John March-Russell

Abstract:

We consider a hidden-valley gauge sector, G, with strong coupling scale Lambda~TeV and CP-violating topological parameter, theta, as well as a new axion degree of freedom which adjusts theta to near zero in the current universe. If the G-sector couples to the Standard Model via weak-scale states charged under both, then in the early universe it is possible for the CP-violation due to theta (which has not yet been adjusted to zero by the hidden axion) to feed in to the SM and drive efficient baryogenesis during the electroweak (EW) phase transition, independent of the effectively small amount of CP violation present in the SM itself. While current constraints on both the new axion and charged states are easily satisfied, we argue that the LHC can investigate the vast majority of parameter space where EW-baryogenesis is efficiently assisted, while the hidden axion should comprise a significant fraction of the dark matter density. In the supersymmetric version, the ``messenger'' matter communicating between the SM- and G-sectors naturally solves the little hierarchy problem of the MSSM. The connection of the hidden scale and masses of the ``quirk''-like messengers to the EW scale via the assisted electroweak baryogenesis mechanism provides a reason for such new hidden valley physics to lie at the weak scale.

Abstract:

We propose an alternate, calculable mechanism of dark matter genesis, "thermal freeze-in", involving a Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) interacting so feebly with the thermal bath that it never attains thermal equilibrium. As with the conventional "thermal freeze-out" production mechanism, the relic abundance reflects a combination of initial thermal distributions together with particle masses and couplings that can be measured in the laboratory or astrophysically. The freeze-in yield is IR dominated by low temperatures near the FIMP mass and is independent of unknown UV physics, such as the reheat temperature after inflation. Moduli and modulinos of string theory compactifications that receive mass from weak-scale supersymmetry breaking provide implementations of the freeze-in mechanism, as do models that employ Dirac neutrino masses or GUT-scale- suppressed interactions. Experimental signals of freeze-in and FIMPs can be spectacular, including the production of new metastable coloured or charged particles at the LHC as well as the alteration of big bang nucleosynthesis.

Abstract:

We study the 'goldstini' scenario of Cheung, Nomura, and Thaler, in which multiple independent supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking sectors lead to multiple would-be goldstinos, changing collider and cosmological phenomenology. In supergravity, potentially large corrections to the previous prediction of twice the gravitino mass for goldstini masses can arise when their scalar partners are stabilized far from the origin. Considerations arising from the complexity of realistic string compactifications indicate that many of the independent SUSY-breaking sectors should be conformally sequestered or situated in warped Randall-Sundrum-like throats, further changing the predicted goldstini masses. If the sequestered hidden sector is a metastable SUSY-breaking sector of the Intriligator-Seiberg-Shih (ISS) type then multiple goldstini can originate from within a single sector, along with many supplementary 'modulini', all with masses of order twice the gravitino mass. These fields can couple to the Supersymmetric Standard Model (SSM) via the 'Goldstino Portal'. Collider signatures involving SSM sparticle decays can provide strong evidence for warped-or-conformally-sequestered sectors, and of the ISS mechanism of SUSY breaking. Along with axions and photini, the Goldstino Portal gives another potential window to the hidden sectors of string theory. © SISSA 2010.

Abstract:

A simple theory of supersymmetric dark matter (DM) naturally linked to neutrino flavour physics is studied. The DM sector comprises a spectrum of mixed lhd-rhd sneutrino states where both the sneutrino flavour structure and mass splittings are determined by the associated neutrino masses and mixings. Prospects for indirect detection from solar capture are good due to a large sneutrino-nucleon cross-section afforded by the inelastic splitting (solar capture limits exclude an explanation of DAMA/LIBRA). We find parameter regions where all heavier states will have decayed, leaving only one flavour mixture of sneutrino as the candidate DM. Such regions have a unique `smoking gun' signature--sneutrino annihilation in the Sun produces a pair of neutrino mass eigenstates free from vacuum oscillations, with the potential for detection at neutrino telescopes through the observation of a hard spectrum of nu_mu and nu_tau (for a normal neutrino hierarchy). Next generation direct detection experiments can explore much of the parameter space through both elastic and inelastic scattering. We show in detail that the observed neutrino masses and mixings can arise as a consequence of supersymmetry breaking effects in the sneutrino DM sector, consistent with all experimental constraints.