Probing pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson dark matter at loop level

TL;DR

This paper investigates the detection prospects of pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson dark matter in an extended standard model, emphasizing the importance of quantum corrections at loop level due to suppressed tree-level interactions.

Contribution

It provides a systematic calculation of next-to-leading order QCD corrections for dark matter-nucleon scattering in a model with a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson.

Findings

Loop-level corrections are crucial for accurate direct detection predictions.

Tree-level scattering amplitude vanishes, making higher order effects dominant.

The results refine the understanding of dark matter detection signals.

Abstract

In the standard model extended by a single complex scalar boson with a softly broken global U(1) symmetry, a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson becomes a candidate for dark matter. In this paper, we discuss the direct detection of the pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson dark matter. Since the tree-level amplitude for dark matter-nucleon scattering vanishes, higher order quantum corrections for the amplitude should be taken into account. We perform the calculation at the next-to-leading order in QCD in a systematic manner.