Dark matter for excess of AMS-02 positrons and antiprotons

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel dark matter model that explains the excess of positrons and antiprotons observed by AMS-02, linking dark matter annihilation to neutrino mass within an extended Higgs triplet framework with a hidden gauge symmetry.

Contribution

It introduces a new dark matter candidate from an extended Higgs triplet model with a hidden SU(2)_X symmetry broken to Z_3, connecting dark matter phenomenology with neutrino mass.

Findings

Successfully explains AMS-02 positron and antiproton excesses

Provides a viable dark matter candidate consistent with current bounds

Links neutrino mass generation to dark matter properties

Abstract

We propose a dark matter explanation to simultaneously account for the excess of antiproton-to-proton and positron power spectra observed in the AMS-02 experiment while having the right dark matter relic abundance and satisfying the current direct search bounds. We extend the Higgs triplet model with a hidden gauge symmetry of $SU(2)_X$ that is broken to $Z_3$ by a quadruplet scalar field, rendering the associated gauge bosons stable weakly-interacting massive particle dark matter candidates. By coupling the complex Higgs triplet and the $SU(2)_X$ quadruplet, the dark matter candidates can annihilate into triplet Higgs bosons each of which in turn decays into lepton or gauge boson final states. Such a mechanism gives rise to correct excess of positrons and antiprotons with an appropriate choice of the triplet vacuum expectation value. Besides, the model provides a link between neutrino mass and dark matter phenomenology.