Thermally modified sterile neutrino portal dark matter and gravitational waves from phase transition: The Freeze-in case

TL;DR

This paper explores how thermal effects and phase transitions influence sterile neutrino portal dark matter production, gravitational wave signals, and collider signatures, providing new insights into early universe dynamics and particle physics.

Contribution

It introduces a model where thermal effects modify freeze-in dark matter production via phase transitions, linking gravitational wave signals and collider probes to the dark matter genesis.

Findings

Thermal effects alter dark matter relic abundance evolution.

Strong first order phase transition generates detectable gravitational waves.

Higgs off-shell searches can probe extra scalars related to the hierarchy problem.

Abstract

We consider the thermal effects into the evaluation of the dark matter production process. With the assistance of the right handed neutrinos, the freeze-in massive particle dark matter production history can be modified by the two-step phase transitions. The kinematic of decay/inverse decay or annihilation processes can be affected by the finite temperature effects as the Universe cools down. The history of the symmetry respected by the model can be revealed by the DM relic abundance evolution processes. The strong first order electroweak phase transition generated gravitational waves can be probed. The number of extra scalars for the Hierarchy problem can be probed through the Higgs off-shell searches at the LHC.