Secluded WIMP Dark Matter

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Pospelov, Maxim, Ritz, Adam, Voloshin, Mikhail B
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 30.11.2007
• Subjects: Bosons; Dark matter; Elastic scattering; Fermions; Flavor (particle physics); Gamma rays; Physics - High Energy Physics - Phenomenology; Scattering cross sections; Standard model (particle physics); Weakly interacting massive particles
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.0711.4866

We consider a generic mechanism via which thermal relic WIMP dark matter may be decoupled from the Standard Model, namely through a combination of WIMP annihilation to metastable mediators with subsequent delayed decay to Standard Model states. We illustrate this with explicit examples of WIMPs connected to the Standard Model by metastable bosons or fermions. In all models, provided the WIMP mass is greater than that of the mediator, it can be secluded from the Standard Model with an extremely small elastic scattering cross-section on nuclei and rate for direct collider production. In contrast, indirect signatures from WIMP annihilation are consistent with a weak scale cross-section and provide potentially observable \gamma-ray signals. We also point out that \gamma-ray constraints and flavor physics impose severe restrictions on MeV-scale variants of secluded models, and identify limited classes that pass all the observational constraints.