EWSB from the soft portal into Dark Matter and prediction for direct detection

TL;DR

This paper proposes that a 'soft' portal coupling between scalar dark matter and the Higgs can naturally trigger electroweak symmetry breaking, predict dark matter mass in the TeV range, and explain direct detection signals.

Contribution

It introduces a large dimensionful coupling in the dark matter-Higgs interaction, linking EWSB, dark matter relic abundance, and direct detection predictions.

Findings

EWSB can be triggered radiatively by dark matter corrections.

Dark matter mass is predicted between 700 GeV and 2 TeV.

Direct detection cross section is near current experimental sensitivity.

Abstract

Scalar Dark Matter (DM) can have dimensionful coupling to the Higgs boson - the "soft" portal into DM - which is predicted to be unsuppressed by underlying SO(10) GUT. The dimensionful coupling can be large, \mu/v >> 1, without spoiling perturbativity of low energy theory up to the GUT scale. We show that the soft portal into DM naturally triggers radiative EWSB via large 1-loop DM corrections to the effective potential. In this scenario EWSB, DM thermal freeze-out cross section and DM scattering on nuclei are all dominated by the same coupling, predicting DM mass range to be 700 GeV< M_{DM} < 2 TeV. The spin-independent direct detection cross section is predicted to be just at the present experimental sensitivity and can explain the observed CDMS II recoil events.