Common gauge origin of discrete symmetries in observable sector and hidden sector

TL;DR

This paper explores how a common Abelian gauge symmetry can give rise to residual discrete symmetries in both observable and hidden sectors, impacting proton stability and dark matter interactions.

Contribution

It systematically analyzes the origin of discrete symmetries from a shared U(1) gauge symmetry and their implications for dark matter and proton stability.

Findings

Discrete symmetries can stabilize dark matter and proton.

Hidden sector dark matter interacts via Z' gauge boson.

Constructs general U(1) charge assignments for discrete symmetries.

Abstract

An extra Abelian gauge symmetry is motivated in many new physics models in both supersymmetric and nonsupersymmetric cases. Such a new gauge symmetry may interact with both the observable sector and the hidden sector. We systematically investigate the most general residual discrete symmetries in both sectors from a common Abelian gauge symmetry. Those discrete symmetries can ensure the stability of the proton and the dark matter candidate. A hidden sector dark matter candidate (lightest U-parity particle or LUP) interacts with the standard model fields through the gauge boson Z', which may selectively couple to quarks or leptons only. We make a comment on the implications of the discrete symmetry and the leptonically coupling dark matter candidate, which has been highlighted recently due to the possibility of the simultaneous explanation of the DAMA and the PAMELA results. We also show how to construct the most general U(1) charges for a given discrete symmetry, and discuss the relation between the U(1) gauge symmetry and R-parity.