122323747
Particle Dark Matter in the galactic halo
The DAMA/LIBRA-phase1 and the former DAMA/NaI data (cumulative exposure 1.33 ton x yr, corresponding to 14 annual cycles) give evidence at 9.3 sigma C.L. for the presence of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the galactic halo, on the basis of the exploited model independent DM annual modulation signature by using highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) target. Results and comparisons will be shortly recalled. Recent analyses on possible diurnal effects and on the Earth shadowing effect (the latter holds only for some DM candidates) will be mentioned. The analysis of the time distribution of the low-energy single-hit events in DAMA/LIBRA-phase1 is reported for the first time. Finally, some perspectives of the presently running DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 will be mentioned.
124862840
DIRECT DETECTION OF DARK MATTER PARTICLES
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.
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.
17603783
Oblique Corrections in Deconstructed Higgsless Models
In this talk, using deconstruction, we analyze the form of the corrections to the electroweak interactions in a large class of ``Higgsless'' models of electroweak symmetry breaking, allowing for arbitrary 5-D geometry, position-dependent gauge coupling, and brane kinetic energy terms. Many models considered in the literature, including those most likely to be phenomenologically viable, are in this class. By analyzing the asymptotic behavior of the correlation function of gauge currents at high momentum, we extract the exact form of the relevant correlation functions at tree-level and compute the corrections to precision electroweak observables in terms of the spectrum of heavy vector bosons. We determine when nonoblique corrections due to the interactions of fermions with the heavy vector bosons become important, and specify the form such interactions can take. In particular we find that in this class of models, so long as the theory remains unitary, S - 4 c^2_W T > O(1), where S and T are the usual oblique parameters.
657584
Electroweak corrections and unitarity in linear moose models
We calculate the form of the corrections to the electroweak interactions in the class of Higgsless models which can be deconstructed to a chain of SU(2) gauge groups adjacent to a chain of U(1) gauge groups, and with the fermions coupled to any single SU(2) group and to any single U(1) group along the chain. The primary advantage of our technique is that the size of corrections to electroweak processes can be directly related to the spectrum of vector bosons ('KK modes'). In Higgsless models, this spectrum is constrained by unitarity. Our methods also allow for arbitrary background 5D geometry, spatially dependent gauge-couplings, and brane kinetic energy terms. We find that, due to the size of corrections to electroweak processes in any unitary theory, Higgsless models with localized fermions are disfavored by precision electroweak data. Although we stress our results as they apply to continuum Higgsless 5D models, they apply to any linear moose model including those with only a few extra vector bosons. Our calculations of electroweak corrections also apply directly to the electroweak gauge sector of 5D theories with a bulk scalar Higgs boson; the constraints arising from unitarity do not apply in this case.
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
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.