Probing the scotogenic model with lepton flavor violating processes

TL;DR

Future lepton flavor violating experiments will significantly constrain the scotogenic model's parameter space, especially affecting models where dark matter relic density is set by annihilations or coannihilations.

Contribution

This study assesses how upcoming experiments can test and potentially exclude large portions of the scotogenic model's parameter space.

Findings

Future experiments can exclude many coannihilation-based models.

All annihilation-based models could be ruled out by future data.

Lepton flavor violation searches are crucial for testing dark matter models.

Abstract

We study the impact that future lepton flavor violating experiments will have on the viable parameter space of the scotogenic model. Within this model, the dark matter particle is assumed to be the lightest singlet fermion and two cases are considered depending on how its relic density is obtained: via self-annihilations or via coannihilations with the scalars. For each case, a scan over the parameter space of the model is used to obtain a large sample of viable points, which we subsequently analyze. We find that future lepton flavor violating experiments, in particular those searching for $\mu\to 3e$ and $\mu$-$e$ conversion in nuclei, will probe the parameter space of the scotogenic model in a significant way. They may exclude a large fraction of the models where the dark matter density is determined by coannihilations, and could rule out all the models where it is determined by annihilations.