Sterile neutrino portal to Dark Matter I: The $U(1)_{B-L}$ case

TL;DR

This paper investigates a model linking sterile neutrinos and Dark Matter through a $U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry, exploring implications for particle masses, interactions, and potential signals in indirect detection experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel $U(1)_{B-L}$ based framework connecting sterile neutrinos and Dark Matter, analyzing its phenomenological consequences and experimental signatures.

Findings

Dark Matter annihilation produces detectable gamma-ray signals.

The model predicts interactions that can be probed at colliders.

Dark matter and sterile neutrino sectors are interconnected via a dark scalar.

Abstract

In this paper we explore the possibility that the sterile neutrino and Dark Matter sectors in the Universe have a common origin. We study the consequences of this assumption in the simple case of coupling the dark sector to the Standard Model via a global $U(1)_{B-L}$, broken down spontaneously by a dark scalar. This dark scalar provides masses to the dark fermions and communicates with the Higgs via a Higgs portal coupling. We find an interesting interplay between Dark Matter annihilation to dark scalars - the CP-even that mixes with the Higgs and the CP-odd which becomes a Goldstone boson, the Majoron - and heavy neutrinos, as well as collider probes via the coupling to the Higgs. Moreover, Dark Matter annihilation into sterile neutrinos and its subsequent decay to gauge bosons and quarks, charged leptons or neutrinos lead to indirect detection signatures which are close to current bounds on the gamma ray flux from the galactic center and dwarf galaxies.