Collider constraints on interactions of dark energy with the Standard Model

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a light scalar dark energy particle interacting with electroweak gauge fields affects collider observables, finding that many effects are screened, but some Higgs production processes could reveal dark energy interactions.

Contribution

It demonstrates that electroweak precision tests are largely insensitive to dark energy couplings due to screening effects, except potentially in Higgs boson production at the LHC.

Findings

Electroweak precision observables are screened from dark energy effects.

Flavor-changing neutral current processes are also screened.

Higgs production via weak boson fusion may show observable corrections.

Abstract

We study models in which a light scalar dark energy particle couples to the gauge fields of the electroweak force, the photon, Z and W bosons. Our analysis applies to a large class of interacting dark energy models, including those in which the dark energy mass can be adjusted to evade fifth-force bounds by the so-called chameleon mechanism. We conclude that--with the usual choice of Higgs sector--electroweak precision observables are screened from the indirect effects of dark energy, making such corrections effectively unobservable at present-day colliders, and limiting the dark energy discovery potential of any future International Linear Collider. We show that a similar screening effect applies to processes mediated by flavour-changing neutral currents, which can be traced to the Glashow-Iliopoulos-Maiani mechanism. However, Higgs boson production at the Large Hadron Collider via weak boson fusion may receive observable corrections.