Tensor perturbations from first-order phase transitions and domain wall annihilation induce curvature fluctuations at second order that form primordial black holes, allowing asteroid-mass PBHs to comprise all dark matter for specific parameter ranges with associated gravitational wave peaks in LISA,
The Vev Flip-Flop: Dark Matter Decay between Weak Scale Phase Transitions
3 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
abstract
We propose a new alternative to the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) paradigm for dark matter. Rather than being determined by thermal freeze-out, the dark matter abundance in this scenario is set by dark matter decay, which is allowed for a limited amount of time just before the electroweak phase transition. More specifically, we consider fermionic singlet dark matter particles coupled weakly to a scalar mediator $S_3$ and to auxiliary dark sector fields, charged under the Standard Model gauge groups. Dark matter freezes out while still relativistic, so its abundance is initially very large. As the Universe cools down, the scalar mediator develops a vacuum expectation value (vev), which breaks the symmetry that stabilises dark matter. This allows dark matter to mix with charged fermions and decay. During this epoch, the dark matter abundance is reduced to give the value observed today. Later, the SM Higgs field also develops a vev, which feeds back into the $S_3$ potential and restores the dark sector symmetry. In a concrete model we show that this "vev flip-flop" scenario is phenomenologically successful in the most interesting regions of its parameter space. We also comment on detection prospects at the LHC and elsewhere.
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UNVERDICTED 3roles
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background 2representative citing papers
Temperature-dependent DM couplings mediated by a scalar field's VEV that drops after a first-order phase transition allow sufficient early-universe annihilations for the observed relic density while evading current direct detection bounds.
Updated LISA detection prospects for gravitational waves from phase transitions are derived from state-of-the-art sound-wave simulations, with a new web tool PTPlot provided for parameter scans.
citing papers explorer
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Primordial Black Hole from Tensor-induced Density Fluctuation: First-order Phase Transitions and Domain Walls
Tensor perturbations from first-order phase transitions and domain wall annihilation induce curvature fluctuations at second order that form primordial black holes, allowing asteroid-mass PBHs to comprise all dark matter for specific parameter ranges with associated gravitational wave peaks in LISA,
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Reviving WIMP dark matter with temperature-dependent couplings
Temperature-dependent DM couplings mediated by a scalar field's VEV that drops after a first-order phase transition allow sufficient early-universe annihilations for the observed relic density while evading current direct detection bounds.
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Detecting gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions with LISA: an update
Updated LISA detection prospects for gravitational waves from phase transitions are derived from state-of-the-art sound-wave simulations, with a new web tool PTPlot provided for parameter scans.