Decaying into the Hidden Sector

TL;DR

This paper explores models where dark matter decays into a hidden sector via GUT suppressed operators, explaining cosmic ray data while evading astrophysical bounds, and discusses potential future detection methods.

Contribution

It introduces simple, generic models of decaying dark matter into hidden sectors and provides tools and examples for constructing such models.

Findings

Models can explain cosmic ray observations without over-producing antiprotons.

Hidden sector and dark matter couplings can be probed via astrophysical photon and neutrino fluxes.

Models evade all current astrophysical bounds.

Abstract

The existence of light hidden sectors is an exciting possibility that may be tested in the near future. If DM is allowed to decay into such a hidden sector through GUT suppressed operators, it can accommodate the recent cosmic ray observations without over-producing antiprotons or interfering with the attractive features of the thermal WIMP. Models of this kind are simple to construct, generic and evade all astrophysical bounds. We provide tools for constructing such models and present several distinct examples. The light hidden spectrum and DM couplings can be probed in the near future, by measuring astrophysical photon and neutrino fluxes. These indirect signatures are complimentary to the direct production signals, such as lepton jets, predicted by these models.