We show that three SU(2) singlet neutral scalars (two CP-even and one CP-odd)
in the spectrum of models based on the gauge symmetry SU(3)_c X SU(3)_L X
U(1)_X, which do not contain exotic electric charges, are realistic candidates
for thermally generated self-interacting dark matter in the Universe, a type of
dark matter that has been recently proposed in order to overcome some
difficulties of collisionless cold dark matter models at the galactic scale.
These candidates arise without introducing a new mass scale in the model and/or
without the need for a discrete symmetry to stabilize them, but at the expense
of tuning several combinations of parameters of the scalar potential.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages. v2: typos corrected, one reference added. v3:
clarifications added, four more references added. To appear in Europhys. Let