Grand unified hidden-sector dark matter

TL;DR

This paper investigates grand unified theories with a Z2 symmetry linking visible and dark sectors, proposing asymmetric symmetry breaking to naturally generate dark baryons with masses slightly above protons, relevant for asymmetric dark matter.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for asymmetric symmetry breaking in GxG unified theories, enabling different confinement and fermion mass scales in visible and dark sectors.

Findings

Models can produce dark baryons with masses just above protons.

Higgs potentials can be designed for asymmetric gauge breaking.

Supersymmetric extensions of the models are feasible.

Abstract

We explore GxG unified theories with the visible and the hidden or dark sectors paired under a Z2 symmetry. Developing a system of 'asymmetric symmetry breaking' we motivate such models on the basis of their ability to generate dark baryons that are confined with a mass scale just above that of the proton, as motivated by asymmetric dark matter. This difference is achieved from the distinct but related confinement scales that develop in unified theories that have the two factors of $G$ spontaneously breaking in an asymmetric manner. We show how Higgs potentials that admit different gauge group breaking chains in each sector can be constructed, and demonstrate the capacity for generating different fermion mass scales. Lastly we discuss supersymmetric extensions of such schemes.