Theoretical and experimental constraints on $$\mathbb {Z}_{2n}$$ multi-component dark matter models
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: A complete assessment of any dark matter model requires confronting its low-energy phenomenology with its high-scale theoretical viability. We undertake such a dual analysis for a class of two-component scalar dark matter models stabilized by $$\mathbb {Z}_{2n}$$ Z 2 n symmetries, specifically the $$\mathbb {Z}_4$$ Z 4 , $$\mathbb {Z}_6(23)$$ Z 6 ( 23 ) , and $$\mathbb {Z}_6(13)$$ Z 6 ( 13 ) frameworks. Each model is tested against the latest observational data, including the Planck relic abundance and stringent direct detection limits from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment. Simultaneously, we evaluate their theoretical integrity up to the GUT and Planck scales by enforcing vacuum stability and perturbative unitarity with one-loop Renormalization Group Equations. This combined approach reveals a rich and varied landscape of possibilities. We demonstrate that the $$\mathbb {Z}_4$$ Z 4 model offers a broadly viable parameter space sustained by efficient semi-annihilation. In stark contrast, the $$\mathbb {Z}_6(13)$$ Z 6 ( 13 ) scenario is shown to be highly fine-tuned, with solutions confined to the Higgs resonance. Our most significant finding concerns the $$\mathbb {Z}_6(23)$$ Z 6 ( 23 ) model: we show that an apparent conflict between experimental data and high-scale consistency is resolved when the model is viewed as an effective field theory, yielding a concrete prediction for new physics at or below the $$10^6$$ 10 6 GeV scale. This work provides a definitive guide to the viability of these $$\mathbb {Z}_{2n}$$ Z 2 n scenarios and serves as a compelling demonstration of how high-energy consistency checks can yield crucial insights into the nature of dark matter.
Source: The European Physical Journal C
Institution: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4416660082