This book offers construction of a renormalizable effective theory of electroweak-interacting spin-1 dark matter (DM). The effective theory realizes minimal but essential features of DM predicted in extra-dimension models, and enables to systematically treat non-perturbative corrections such as the Sommerfeld effects. Deriving an annihilation cross section including the Sommerfeld effects based on the effective theory, the author discusses the future sensitivity of observations to gamma-ray from the Galactic Center. As a result, the author explains the monochromatic gamma-ray signatures originate from two photons (γγ) or photon and Z boson (γZ) produced in the process of DM annihilations, and concludes a possible scenario that unstable neutral spin-1 particles (Z’) appear and results in a spectral peak in addition to the one caused by γγ and γZ channels in gamma-ray observations. If those two spectral peaks are observed, the masses of spin-1 DM and Z’ would be reconstructed.
One of the most puzzling problems of modern physics is the identification of the nature a non-relativistic matter component present in the universe, contributing to more than 25% of the total energy budget, known as Dark Matter. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are among the best motivated dark matter candidates. However, in light of non conclusive detection signals and strong constraints from collider, direct and indirect detection experiments, this thesis presents constraints on several realizations of the WIMP paradigm in the context of simplified dark matter models. More elaborated models considering extended gauge structures are discussed further on, such as constructions involving generalized Chern-Simons couplings and a specific WIMP scenario motivated by some recently observed flavor anomalies related to the RK(*) observable. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the discussion of an alternative dark matter thermal production mechanism where an explicit realization of the Strongly Interacting Massive Particles (SIMPs) paradigm is discussed in the context of a non-Abelian hidden gauge structure. In a last part, the possibility of producing non-thermally a dark matter component via the "freeze-in" mechanism was investigated and the strong impact of the postinationary reaheating stage of the universe on such constructions illustrated by the specific case where dark matter density production is mediated by a heavy spin-2 field in addition to the standard graviton.
What is the dark matter that fills the Universe and binds together galaxies? How was it produced? What are its interactions and particle properties?The paradigm of dark matter is one of the key developments at the interface of cosmology and elementary particle physics. It is also one of the foundations of the standard cosmological model. This book presents the state of the art in building and testing particle models for dark matter. Each chapter gives an analysis of questions, research directions, and methods within the field. More than 200 problems are included to challenge and stimulate the reader's knowledge and provide guidance in the practical implementation of the numerous 'tools of the trade' presented. Appendices summarize the basics of cosmology and particle physics needed for any quantitative understanding of particle models for dark matter.This interdisciplinary textbook is essential reading for anyone interested in the microscopic nature of dark matter as it manifests itself in particle physics experiments, cosmological observations, and high-energy astrophysical phenomena: from graduate students and advanced undergraduates to cosmologists and astrophysicists interested in particle models for dark matter and particle physicists interested in early-universe cosmology and high-energy astrophysics.
Written for a two-semester Master's or graduate course, this comprehensive treatise intertwines theory and experiment in an original approach that covers all aspects of modern particle physics. The author uses rigorous step-by-step derivations and provides more than 100 end-of-chapter problems for additional practice to ensure that students will not only understand the material but also be able to apply their knowledge. Featuring up-to-date experimental material, including the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN and of neutrino oscillations, this monumental volume also serves as a one-stop reference for particle physics researchers of all levels and specialties. Richly illustrated with more than 450 figures, the text guides students through all the intricacies of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory in an intuitive manner that few books achieve.
For the last few years astrophysicists and elementary particle physicists have been working jointly on the following fascinating phenomena: 1. The solar neutrino puzzle and the question: What happens to the neutrinos on their way from the sun to the earth? 2. The growing evidence that our universe is filled with about 10 times more matter than is visible and the question: What is dark matter made of? 3. The supernovae explosions and the question: What do neutrinos tell us about such explosions and vice versa? The experimental investigation of these phenomena is difficult and involves unconventional techniques. These are presently under development, and bring together such seemingly disparate disciplines as astrophysics and elementary particle physics on the one hand and superconductivity and solid-state physics on the other. This book contains the proceedings of a workshop held in March 1987 at which the above subjects and their experimental investigation were discussed. The proposed experimental methods are very new. They involve frontier developments in low temperature and solid-state physics. The book should be useful to researchers and students who actively work on these subjects or plan to enter the field. It also offers the non-expert reader with some physics background a good survey of the activities in this field.
This book is about dark matter’s particle nature and the implications of a new symmetry that appears when a hypothetical dark matter particle is heavy compared to known elementary particles. Dark matter exists and composes about 85% of the matter in the universe, but it cannot be explained in terms of the known elementary particles. Discovering dark matter's particle nature is one of the most pressing open problems in particle physics. This thesis derives the implications of a new symmetry that appears when the hypothetical dark matter particle is heavy compared to the known elementary particles, a situation which is well motivated by the null results of searches at the LHC and elsewhere. The new symmetry predicts a universal interaction between dark matter and ordinary matter, which in turn may be used to determine the event rate and detectable energy in dark matter direct detection experiments. The computation of heavy wino and higgsino dark matter presented in this work has become a benchmark for the field of direct detection. This thesis has also spawned a new field of investigation in dark matter indirect detection, determining heavy WIMP annihilation rates using effective field theory methods. It describes a new formalism for implementing Lorentz invariance constraints in nonrelativistic theories, with a surprising result at 1/M^4 order that contradicts the prevailing ansatz in the past 20 years of heavy quark literature. The author has also derived new perturbative QCD results to provide the definitive analysis of key Standard Model observables such as heavy quark scalar matrix elements of the nucleon. This is an influential thesis, with impacts in dark matter phenomenology, field theory formalism and precision hadronic physics.
Astrophysical observations from galactic to cosmological scales point to a substantial non-baryonic component to the universe's total matter density. Although very little is presently known about the physical properties of dark matter, its existence offers some of the most compelling evidence for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). In the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) scenario, the dark matter consists of particles that possess weak-scale interactions with the particles of the standard model, offering a compelling theoretical framework that allows us to understand the relic abundance of dark matter as a natural consequence of the thermal history of the early universe. From the perspective of particle physics phenomenology, the WIMP scenario is appealing for two additional reasons. First, many theories of BSM physics contain attractive WIMP candidates. Second, the weak-scale interactions between WIMPs and standard model particles imply the possibility of detecting scatterings between relic WIMPs and detector nuclei in direct detection experiments, products of WIMP annihilations at locations throughout the galaxy in indirect detection programs, and WIMP production signals at high-energy particle colliders. In this work, we use an effective field theory approach to study model-independent dark matter phenomenology in direct detection and collider experiments. The maverick dark matter scenario is defined by an effective field theory in which the WIMP is the only new particle within the energy range accessible to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Although certain assumptions are necessary to keep the problem tractable, we describe our WIMP candidate generically by specifying only its spin and dominant interaction form with standard model particles. Constraints are placed on the masses and coupling constants of the maverick WIMPs using the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) relic density measurement and direct detection exclusion data from both spin-independent (XENON100 and SuperCDMS) and spin-dependent (COUPP) experiments. We further study the distinguishability of maverick WIMP production signals at the Tevatron and the LHC--at its early and nominal configurations--using standard simulation packages, place constraints on maverick WIMP properties using existing collider data, and determine projected mass reaches in future data from both colliders. We find ourselves in a unique era of theoretically-motivated, high-precision dark matter searches that hold the potential to give us important insights, not only into the nature of dark matter, but also into the physics that lies beyond the standard model.
