UltraViolet Freeze-in

TL;DR

This paper explores dark matter production through freeze-in via non-renormalisable operators, offering a more generic scenario without the need for tiny renormalisable couplings, and examines models related to the Peccei-Quinn mechanism and Z' portals.

Contribution

It introduces and analyzes the freeze-in dark matter production mechanism mediated by non-renormalisable operators, expanding beyond traditional renormalisable interaction models.

Findings

Non-renormalisable operators can effectively mediate freeze-in dark matter production.

Several motivated BSM models, including Peccei-Quinn and Z' portals, can realize this scenario.

The approach broadens the theoretical landscape for dark matter relic density generation.

Abstract

If dark matter is thermally decoupled from the visible sector, the observed relic density can potentially be obtained via freeze-in production of dark matter. Typically in such models it is assumed that the dark matter is connected to the thermal bath through feeble renormalisable interactions. Here, rather, we consider the case in which the hidden and visible sectors are coupled only via non-renormalisable operators. This is arguably a more generic realisation of the dark matter freeze-in scenario, as it does not require the introduction of diminutive renormalisable couplings. We examine general aspects of freeze-in via non-renormalisable operators in a number of toy models and present several motivated implementations in the context of Beyond the Standard Model physics. Specifically, we study models related to the Peccei-Quinn mechanism and Z' portals.