Strong Interactive Massive Particles from a Strong Coupled Theory

TL;DR

This paper explores a model where technibaryons form techni-O-helium atoms that could serve as dark matter, with unique nuclear interactions affecting cosmology, structure formation, and experimental detection.

Contribution

It introduces a novel dark matter candidate, techni-O-helium, arising from strongly coupled technicolor theories, and discusses its cosmological and experimental implications.

Findings

Techni-O-helium can account for dark matter and influence nucleosynthesis.

It decouples from baryonic matter, affecting structure formation.

It evades current underground detection constraints but can be tested in other experiments.

Abstract

Minimal walking technicolor models can provide a nontrivial solution for cosmological dark matter, if the lightest technibaryon is doubly charged. Technibaryon asymmetry generated in the early Universe is related to baryon asymmetry and it is possible to create excess of techniparticles with charge (-2). These excessive techniparticles are all captured by $^4He$, creating \emph{techni-O-helium} $tOHe$ ``atoms'', as soon as $^4He$ is formed in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. The interaction of techni-O-helium with nuclei opens new paths to the creation of heavy nuclei in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. Due to the large mass of technibaryons, the $tOHe$ ``atomic'' gas decouples from the baryonic matter and plays the role of dark matter in large scale structure formation, while structures in small scales are suppressed. Nuclear interactions with matter slow down cosmic techni-O-helium in Earth below the threshold of underground dark matter detectors, thus escaping severe CDMS constraints. On the other hand, these nuclear interactions are not sufficiently strong to exclude this form of Strongly Interactive Massive Particles by constraints from the XQC experiment. Experimental tests of this hypothesis are possible in search for $tOHe$ in balloon-borne experiments (or on the ground) and for its charged techniparticle constituents in cosmic rays and accelerators. The $tOHe$ ``atoms'' can cause cold nuclear transformations in matter and might form anomalous isotopes, offering possible ways to exclude (or prove?) their existence.