Dynamical dark matter. I. Theoretical overview

Keith R. Dienes and Brooks Thomas
Phys. Rev. D 85, 083523 – Published 24 April 2012

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new framework for dark-matter physics. Rather than focus on one or more stable dark-matter particles, we instead consider a multicomponent framework in which the dark matter of the universe comprises a vast ensemble of interacting fields with a variety of different masses, mixings, and abundances. Moreover, rather than impose stability for each field individually, we ensure the phenomenological viability of such a scenario by requiring that those states with larger masses and standard-model decay widths have correspondingly smaller relic abundances, and vice versa. In other words, dark-matter stability is not an absolute requirement in such a framework, but is balanced against abundance. This leads to a highly dynamical scenario in which cosmological quantities such as ΩCDM experience nontrivial time-dependences beyond those associated with the expansion of the universe. Although it may seem difficult to arrange an ensemble of states which have the required decay widths and relic abundances, we present one particular example in which this balancing act occurs naturally: an infinite tower of Kaluza-Klein (KK) states living in the bulk of large extra spacetime dimensions. Remarkably, this remains true even if the stability of the KK tower itself is entirely unprotected. Thus theories with large extra dimensions—and by extension, certain limits of string theory—naturally give rise to dynamical dark matter. Such scenarios also generically give rise to a rich set of collider and astrophysical phenomena which transcend those usually associated with dark matter.

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  • Received 5 September 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.85.083523

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Keith R. Dienes1,2,3,* and Brooks Thomas4,†

  • 1Physics Division, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia 22230 USA
  • 2Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 USA
  • 3Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
  • 4Department of Physics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 USA

  • *dienes@physics.arizona.edu
  • thomasbd@phys.hawaii.edu

See Also

Dynamical dark matter. II. An explicit model

Keith R. Dienes and Brooks Thomas
Phys. Rev. D 85, 083524 (2012)

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Vol. 85, Iss. 8 — 15 April 2012

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