2006/08/23 by Gabriela Barenboim, Joseph Lykken, Joseph D Lykken · 18 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark matter #Large Hadron Collider #Lightest Supersymmetric Particle #Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model #Neutralino #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics beyond the Standard Model #Supersymmetry #astro-ph #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2006/12/005
published in Journal of High Energy Physics 2006(12), 005 (Springer Nature) · 14 pages, 8 figures
arxiv created 2006/08/23 · openalex publication_date 2006/12/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Terascale supersymmetry has the potential to provide a natural explanation of the dominant dark matter component of the standard lambda-CDM cosmology. However once we impose the constraints on minimal supersymmetry parameters from current particle physics data, a satisfactory dark matter abundance is no longer prima facie natural. This Neutralino Tuning Problem could be a hint of nonstandard cosmology during and/or after the Terascale era. To quantify this possibility, we introduce an alternative cosmological benchmark based upon a simple model of quintessential inflation. This benchmark has no free parameters, so for a given supersymmetry model it allows an unambiguous prediction of the dark matter relic density. As a example, we scan over the parameter space of the CMSSM, comparing the neutralino relic density predictions with the bounds from WMAP. We find that the WMAP--allowed regions of the CMSSM are an order of magnitude larger if we use the alternative cosmological benchmark, as opposed to lambda-CDM. Initial results from the CERN Large Hadron Collider will distinguish between the two allowed regions.