Z_p scalar dark matter from multi-Higgs-doublet models

TL;DR

This paper explores how multi-Higgs-doublet models can naturally incorporate scalar dark matter stabilized by various discrete symmetry groups, affecting dark sector dynamics and processes like semi-annihilation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that N Higgs doublet models can support scalar dark matter stabilized by Z_p groups for any p ≤ 2^{N-1}, broadening the scope of dark matter stabilization mechanisms.

Findings

Scalar dark matter can be stabilized by Z_p groups in multi-Higgs models.

Models allow for semi-annihilation processes, influencing dark matter phenomenology.

The framework supports asymmetric dark matter scenarios.

Abstract

In many models, stability of dark matter particles is protected by a conserved Z_2 quantum number. However dark matter can be stabilized by other discrete symmetry groups, and examples of such models with custom-tailored field content have been proposed. Here we show that electroweak symmetry breaking models with N Higgs doublets can readily accommodate scalar dark matter candidates stabilized by groups Z_p with any $p \le 2^{N-1}$, leading to a variety of kinds of microscopic dynamics in the dark sector. We give examples in which semi-annihilation or multiple semi-annihilation processes are allowed or forbidden, which can be especially interesting in the case of asymmetric dark matter.