The impact of a strongly first-order phase transition on the abundance of thermal relics

Abstract

We study the impact of a strongly first-order electro-weak phase transition on the thermal relic abundance of particle species that could constitute the dark matter and that decoupled before the phase transition occurred. We define a dilution factor induced by generic first-order phase transitions, and we explore the parameter space of the minimal supersymmetric extension to the Standard Model to determine which phase transition temperatures and dilution factors are relevant for the lightest neutralino as a dark matter candidate. We then focus on a specific toy-model setup that could give rise to a strongly first-order electro-weak phase transition, and proceed to a detailed calculation of dilution factors and transition temperatures, comparing our findings to actual neutralino dark matter models. Typical models that would produce an excessive thermal relic density and that can be salvaged postulating a strongly first-order electro-weak phase transition include massive (multi-TeV) wino or higgsino-like neutralinos, as well as bino-like neutralinos in a wider mass range, with masses as low as 400 GeV. If LHC data indicate an inferred thermal neutralino relic abundance larger than the cold dark matter density, the mismatch could thus potentially be explained by electro-weak scale physics that will also be thoroughly explored with collider experiments in the near future.

22 pages, 6 figures Included a discussion of the dilution in the MSSM in Sec IV C and slightly expanded the discussion of thermodynamics in Sec II, in addition to other minor changes. This version published in PRD

References in corpus (16)

• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Likelihoods and Parameters from the WMAP data
• Gauge Singlet Scalars as Cold Dark Matter
• LHC Phenomenology of an Extended Standard Model with a Real Scalar Singlet
• Singlet Higgs Phenomenology and the Electroweak Phase Transition
• Minimal Extension of the Standard Model Scalar Sector
• Heavy Dark Matter Through the Higgs Portal
• Novel Effects in Electroweak Breaking from a Hidden Sector
• The Baryogenesis Window in the MSSM
• The effect of a late decaying scalar on the neutralino relic density
• A Confining Strong First-Order Electroweak Phase Transition
• Strong electroweak phase transitions without collider traces
• Four Generations, the Electroweak Phase Transition, and Supersymmetry
• The Ubiquitous Throat
• Supercooling and phase coexistence in cosmological phase transitions
• Determination of Dark Matter Properties at High-Energy Colliders

Cited by in corpus (26)

• CosmoTransitions: Computing Cosmological Phase Transition Temperatures and Bubble Profiles with Multiple Fields
• Cosmic phase transitions: their applications and experimental signatures
• Higgs boson potential at colliders: status and perspectives
• Nonperturbative analysis of the gravitational waves from a first-order electroweak phase transition
• Cosmological Phase Transitions and their Properties in the NMSSM
• MSSM Baryogenesis and Electric Dipole Moments: An Update on the Phenomenology
• The Electroweak Phase Transition in the Inert Doublet Model
• Direct and Indirect Singlet Scalar Dark Matter Detection in the Lepton-Specific two-Higgs-doublet Model
• Supercool Composite Dark Matter Beyond 100 TeV
• Miniclusters in the Axiverse
• Implications of Nano-Hertz Gravitational Waves on Electroweak Phase Transition in the Singlet Dark Matter Model
• Strongly First Order Phase Transitions Near an Enhanced Discrete Symmetry Point
• Two-step strongly first-order electroweak phase transition modified FIMP dark matter, gravitational wave signals, and the neutrino mass
• Phase Transitions and Gauge Artifacts in an Abelian Higgs Plus Singlet Model
• The Thermal History of Composite Dark Matter
• Cosmological Constant, Dark Matter, and Electroweak Phase Transition
• Nuclear Fusion Inside Dark Matter
• Forbidden Dark Matter Annihilations into Standard Model Particles
• Thermal Relic Targets with Exponentially Small Couplings
• The Quest for Supersymmetry: Early LHC Results versus Direct and Indirect Neutralino Dark Matter Searches
• Secluded Dark Matter Coupled to a Hidden CFT
• Probing the Cosmological Constant and Phase Transitions with Dark Matter
• Discerning Singlet and Triplet scalars at the electroweak phase transition and Gravitational Wave
• Dilution of dark matter relic density in singlet extension models
• Electroweak Phase Transition in an Inert Complex Triplet Model
• SuperCool Inflation: A Graceful Exit from Eternal Inflation at LHC Scales and Below