Higgs boson emerging from the dark

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel non-thermal dark matter production mechanism via vacuum misalignment, linking the emergence of the Higgs and dark matter asymmetry, with implications for cosmology and particle physics.

Contribution

It presents a new vacuum misalignment-based mechanism for dark matter production and demonstrates it within a composite Higgs model framework.

Findings

Predicts a light pseudo-scalar $ta$ with cosmological implications.

Links vacuum phase transition to dark matter asymmetry.

Suggests observable effects in supernovae and $Z$ decays.

Abstract

We propose a new non-thermal mechanism of dark matter production based on vacuum misalignment. A global $X$-charge asymmetry is generated at high temperatures, under which both the will-be Higgs and the dark matter are charged. At lower energies, the vacuum changes alignment and breaks the $U(1)_X$, leading to the emergence of the Higgs and of a fraction of charge asymmetry stored in the stable dark matter relic. This mechanism can be present in a wide variety of models based on vacuum misalignment, and we demonstrate it in a composite Higgs template model, where all the necessary ingredients are naturally present. A light pseudo-scalar $\eta$ is always predicted, with interesting implications for cosmology, future supernova observations and exotic $Z \to \gamma \eta$ decays.