Dark Discrete Gauge Symmetries

We investigate scenarios in which dark matter is stabilized by an abelian Z_N discrete gauge symmetry. Models are surveyed according to symmetries and matter content. Multi-component dark matter arises when N is not prime and Z_N contains one or more subgroups. The dark sector interacts with the visible sector through the renormalizable kinetic mixing and Higgs portal operators, and we highlight the basic phenomenology in these scenarios. In particular, multiple species of dark matter can lead to an unconventional nuclear recoil spectrum in direct detection experiments, while the presence of new light states in the dark sector can dramatically affect the decays of the Higgs at the Tevatron and LHC, thus providing a window into the gauge origin of the stability of dark matter.