Supercool Composite Dark Matter Beyond 100 TeV

Abstract

Dark matter could be a composite state of a confining sector with an approximate scale symmetry. We consider the case where the associated pseudo-Goldstone boson, the dilaton, mediates its interactions with the Standard Model. When the confining phase transition in the early universe is supercooled, its dynamics allows for dark matter masses up to 10 6 TeV. We derive the precise parameter space compatible with all experimental constraints, finding that this scenario can be tested partly by telescopes and entirely by gravitational waves.

Snowmass2021 Cosmic Frontier White Paper: Ultraheavy particle dark matter

“…In this case, frozen-out DM with masses beyond O(100 TeV) become allowed [4][5][6]. In models in which DM is much heavier than mediators, Sommerfeld enhancement of cross sections and the formation of bound states alters unitarity bounds [7][8][9][10][11]. DM might also be part of a hidden thermal bath, with a temperature different from the SM [12].…”

Early-Universe Model Building

“…The case of a first order phase transition is particularly interesting, due to the rich non-linear dynamics of bubble nucleation and percolation. Bubbles can collide producing DM particles, they can act as filters to restrict the transmission of DM particles and limit their relic abundance, or they can modify DM's properties like mass and couplings [141][142][143][144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151]. Each of these scenarios has a rich phenomenology, particularly if the DM couples to the Higgs field during the EWPhT.…”

“…In Refs. [151,218] the flux tubes connecting isolated dark quarks of a confining dark sector were studied in detail and it was shown that during a first order phase transition fragmentation of these flux tubes produces many new boosted particles that mimic some aspects of QCD jets at colliders and significantly affect the asymptotic DM abundance.…”

Warped Compactifications in Particle Physics, Cosmology and Quantum Gravity

“…Assuming these issues are addressed in more complete models (such as those referenced below), the features of being a first order phase transition and requiring supercooling can have dramatic observational consequences. The first order nature of the phase transition can lead to gravitational wave (GW) emission [25,[28][29][30][31] which can be observed in present and upcoming GW experiments such as LISA [32,33], DECIGO [34] and BBO [35]. This is an exciting opportunity on many frontiers -as the theoretical and experimental advances in the GW detection program develop over coming decade, the opportunity to probe early universe dynamics in this BSM framework will become increasingly relevant.…”