2021/05/31 by Csaba Csáki, Sungwoo Hong, Gowri Kurup +3 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Classical mechanics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark matter #Particle physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Phenomenology (philosophy) #Physics #Theoretical physics #WIMP #astro-ph.CO #hep-ph #hep-th
paper · pdf · open access · doi:10.1103/physrevd.105.035025
published in Physical review. D/Physical review. D. 105(3) (American Physical Society) · 45 pages, 7 figures; Version published in PRD
openalex created_date 2021/05/24 · arxiv created 2022/01/29 · openalex publication_date 2022/02/23 · arxiv updated 2022/03/14 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We initiate the study of dark matter models based on a gapped continuum. Dark matter consists of a mixture of states with a continuous mass distribution, which evolves as the universe expands. We present an effective field theory describing the gapped continuum, outline the structure of the Hilbert space and show how to deal with the thermodynamics of such a system. This formalism enables us to study the cosmological evolution and phenomenology of gapped continuum DM in detail. As a concrete example, we consider a weakly-interacting continuum (WIC) model, a gapped continuum counterpart of the familiar WIMP. The DM interacts with the SM via a Z-portal. The model successfully reproduces the observed relic density, while direct detection constraints are avoided due to the effect of continuum kinematics. The model has striking observational consequences, including continuous decays of DM states throughout cosmological history, as well as cascade decays of DM states produced at colliders. We also describe how the WIC theory can arise from a local, unitary scalar QFT propagating on a five-dimensional warped background with a soft wall.