Minimal Dark Matter: model and results

TL;DR

Minimal Dark Matter proposes a stable electroweak 5-plet fermion with a 9.6 TeV mass as a successful dark matter candidate, with detectable signals in upcoming experiments and potential explanations for cosmic ray excesses.

Contribution

The paper reviews the Minimal Dark Matter model, highlighting its predictive nature, stability, and compatibility with recent experimental data, including indirect detection signals.

Findings

DM candidate is a 9.6 TeV fermion with hypercharge Y=0

Predicted direct detection cross-section is 10^-44 cm^2

Electroweak Sommerfeld enhancement explains PAMELA positron excess

Abstract

We recap the main features of Minimal Dark Matter (MDM) and assess its status in the light of the recent experimental data. The theory selects an electroweak 5-plet with hypercharge Y=0 as a fully successful DM candidate, automatically stable against decay and with no free parameters: DM is a fermion with a 9.6 TeV mass. The direct detection cross-section, predicted to be 10^-44 cm2, is within reach of next-generation experiments. DM is accompanied by a charged fermion 166 MeV heavier: we discuss how it might manifest. Thanks to an electroweak Sommerfeld enhancement of more than 2 orders of magnitude, DM annihilations into W+W- give, in presence of a modest astrophysical boost factor, a positron flux compatible with the PAMELA excess (but not with the ATIC hint for a peak: MDM instead predicts a quasi-power-law spectrum), a anti-proton flux concentrated at energies above 100 GeV, and to photon fluxes comparable with present limits, depending on the DM density profile.