121818290
Investigating the DAMA annual modulation data in the framework of inelastic dark matter
Abstract. In this paper, the model independent annual modulation effect observed by DAMA during four independent experiments of one annual cycle each (57986 kg $\times$ day total statistics) is analysed in terms of a particle dark matter candidate which can only inelastically scatter by making a transition to a slightly heavier state, as previously suggested in the literature.
118311956
DAMA investigations on Dark Matter at Gran Sasso: results and perspectives
The DAMA/NaI experiment (≃ 100 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl)) at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. had the unique feature to effectively investigate the presence of Dark Matter particles in the galactic halo by exploiting the model independent annual modulation signature. A total exposure of more than 105 kg × day, collected over seven annual cycles, has pointed out at 6.3 σ C.L. an effect which satisfies all the many peculiarities of the signature. Neither systematics nor side reactions able to account for the observed effect were found. No experiment whose result can be directly compared in a model independent way with the experimental one of DAMA/NaI is available so far. Searches in space experiments are not in contradiction with DAMA/NaI. Several (but still few with respect to the possibilities) corollary model dependent quests for the candidate particle have also been carried out; others are in progress. At present the second generation DAMA/LIBRA set‐up (≃ 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(...
117048271
First DAMA/LIBRA Results and Beyond
The DAMA project is an observatory for rare processes and it is operative deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. Its main apparatus is the DAMA/LIBRA set-up, consisting of ≃250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl) detectors. Its first results — obtained by exploiting over four annual cycles the model independent annual modulation signature for Dark Matter (DM) particles — confirm by those of the former DAMA/NaI, supporting the evidence for Dark Matter presence in the galactic halo at 8.2 σ C.L.. The DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA data, in fact, satisfy all the many peculiarities of the DM annual modulation signature. Neither systematic effects nor side reactions able to account for the observed modulation amplitude and to contemporaneously satisfy all the several requirements of the DM signature are available. Future perspectives are also addressed.
119701812
Signals from dark Universe: DAMA/LIBRA at LNGS
The DAMA/LIBRA set-up (about 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl) sensitive mass) is running at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the INFN. The first DAMA/LIBRA results point out the presence of a dark matter particle component in the galactic halo, as well as the former DAMA/NaI set-up; cumulatively the data support such evidence at 8.2σ CL and satisfy all the peculiarities of the dark matter annual modulation signature.
17766827
Investigating electron interacting dark matter
Some extensions of the standard model provide dark matter candidate particles which can have a dominant coupling with the lepton sector of the ordinary matter. Thus, such dark matter candidate particles (chi(0)) can be directly detected only through their interaction with electrons in the detectors of a suitable experiment, while they are lost by experiments based on the rejection of the electromagnetic component of the experimental counting rate. These candidates can also offer a possible source of the 511 keV photons observed from the galactic bulge. In this paper this scenario is investigated. Some theoretical arguments are developed and related phenomenological aspects are discussed. Allowed intervals and regions for the characteristic phenomenological parameters of the considered model and of the possible mediator of the interaction are also derived considering the DAMA/NaI data.
124862840
DIRECT DETECTION OF DARK MATTER PARTICLES
17419673
Deconstruction and elastic {pi}{pi} scattering in Higgsless models
We study elastic pion-pion scattering in global linear moose models and apply the results to a variety of Higgsless models in flat and anti-de Sitter (AdS) space using the equivalence theorem. In order to connect the global moose to Higgsless models, we first introduce a block-spin transformation which corresponds, in the continuum, to the freedom to perform coordinate transformations in the Higgsless model. We show that it is possible to make an 'f-flat' deconstruction in which all of the f-constants f{sub j} of the linear moose model are identical; the phenomenologically relevant f-flat models are those in which the coupling constants of the groups at either end of the moose are small--corresponding to the global linear moose. In studying pion-pion scattering, we derive various sum rules, including one analogous to the Kawarabayashi-Suzuki-Riazuddin-Fayyazuddin (KSRF) relation, and use them in evaluating the low-energy and high-energy forms of the leading elastic partial-wave scattering amplitudes. We obtain elastic unitarity bounds as a function of the mass of the lightest KK mode and discuss their physical significance.
119297206
Asymptotically safe Higgs inflation
We construct a new inflation model in which the standard model Higgs boson couples minimally to gravity and acts as the inflaton. Our construction of Higgs inflation incorporates the standard model with Einstein gravity which exhibits asymptotic safety in the ultraviolet region. The slow roll condition is satisfied at large field value due to the asymptotically safe behavior of Higgs self-coupling at high energies. We find that this minimal construction is highly predictive, and is consistent with both cosmological observations and collider experiments.
119110715
GeV SCALE ASYMMETRIC DARK MATTER FROM MIRROR UNIVERSE: DIRECT DETECTION AND LHC SIGNATURES
Mirror universe is a fundamental way to restore parity symmetry in weak interactions. It naturally provides the lightest mirror nucleon as a unique GeV-scale asymmetric dark matter particle candidate. We conjecture that the mirror parity is respected by the fundamental interaction Lagrangian, and its possible soft breaking arises only from non-interaction terms in the gauge-singlet sector. We realize the spontaneous mirror parity violation by minimizing the vacuum Higgs potential, and derive the corresponding Higgs spectrum. We demonstrate that the common origin of CP violation in the visible and mirror neutrino seesaws can generate the right amount of matter and mirror dark matter via leptogenesis. We analyze the direct detections of GeV-scale mirror dark matter by TEXONO and CDEX experiments. We further study the predicted distinctive Higgs signatures at the LHC.
55815188
Probing Gravitational Dark Matter
So far all evidences of dark matter (DM) come from astrophysical and cosmological observations, due to gravitational interactions of the DM. It is possible that the true DM particle in the universe joins gravitational interactions only, but nothing else. Such a Gravitational DM (GDM) may act as a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP), which is conceptually simple and attractive. In this work, we explore this direction by constructing the simplest scalar GDM particle s . It is a Z 2 odd singlet under the standard model (SM) gauge group, and naturally joins the unique dimension-4 interaction with Ricci curvature, s 2 R , where s is the dimensionless nonminimal coupling. We demonstrate that this gravitational interaction s 2 R , together with Higgs-curvature nonminimal coupling term h H y HR , induces eective couplings between 2 and SM elds, and can account for the observed DM thermal relic abundance. We analyze the annihilation cross sections of GDM particles and derive the viable parameter space for realizing the DM thermal relic density. We further study the direct/indirect detections and the collider signatures of such a scalar GDM. These turn out to be highly predictive and testable.
8894898
Scales of fermion mass generation and electroweak symmetry breaking
The scale of mass generation for fermions (including neutrinos) and the scale for electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) can be bounded from above by the unitarity of scattering involving longitudinal weak gauge bosons or their corresponding would-be Goldstone bosons. Including the exact n-body phase space we analyze the 2{yields}n (n{>=}2) processes for the fermion-(anti)fermion scattering into multiple gauge boson final states. Contrary to naieve energy power counting, we demonstrate that as n becomes large, the competition between an increasing energy factor and a phase-space suppression leads to a strong new upper bound on the scale of fermion mass generation at a finite value n=n{sub s}, which is independent of the EWSB scale, v=({radical}(2)G{sub F}){sup -1/2}. For quarks, leptons, and Majorana neutrinos, the strongest 2{yields}n limits range from about 3 TeV to 130-170 TeV (with 2 < or approx. s < or approx. 24), depending on the measured fermion masses. Strikingly, given the tiny neutrino masses as constrained by the neutrino oscillations, neutrinoless double-beta decays and astrophysical observations, the unitarity violation of {nu}{sub L}{nu}{sub L}{yields}nW{sub L}{sup a} scattering actually occurs at a scale no higher than {approx}170 TeV. Implications for various mechanisms of neutrino mass generation are analyzed. On the other hand,more » for the 2{yields}n pure Goldstone boson scattering, we find that the decreasing phase-space factor always dominates over the growing overall energy factor when n becomes large, so that the best unitarity bound on the scale of EWSB remains at n=2.« less