Dark matter stability and unification without supersymmetry

TL;DR

This paper proposes a non-supersymmetric grand unified model where a TeV-scale fermion triplet dark matter candidate naturally unifies gauge couplings and remains stable due to GUT symmetry, with testable phenomenology.

Contribution

It introduces a unique fermion triplet dark matter candidate within SO(10) GUTs that achieves gauge unification and stability without supersymmetry.

Findings

Gauge coupling unification is improved with the dark matter particle at TeV scale.

The dark matter candidate's stability is ensured by GUT symmetry.

Proton decay predictions are close to current experimental bounds.

Abstract

In the absence of low energy supersymmetry, we show that (a) the dark matter particle alone at the TeV scale can improve gauge coupling unification, raising the unification scale up to the lower bound imposed by proton decay, and (b) the dark matter stability can automatically follow from the grand unification symmetry. Within reasonably simple unified models, a unique candidate satisfying these two properties is singled out: a fermion isotriplet with zero hypercharge, member of a 45 (or larger) representation of SO(10). We discuss the phenomenological signatures of this TeV scale fermion, which can be tested in direct and indirect future dark matter searches. The proton decay rate into e^+ \pi^0 is predicted close to the present bound.