Dark Matter in the Type Ib Seesaw Model

TL;DR

This paper proposes a minimal dark matter extension to a type Ib seesaw model involving two Higgs doublets and heavy Dirac neutrinos, exploring parameter space for freeze-in dark matter production and experimental constraints.

Contribution

It introduces a novel dark matter extension to the type Ib seesaw model linking neutrino physics with dark matter phenomenology and experimental tests.

Findings

Dark matter can be produced via freeze-in in this model.

Parameters are constrained by current experiments and testable by future ones like SHiP.

The model connects neutrino mixing with dark matter production mechanisms.

Abstract

We consider a minimal type Ib seesaw model where the effective neutrino mass operator involves two different Higgs doublets, and the two right-handed neutrinos form a heavy Dirac mass. We propose a minimal dark matter extension of this model, in which the Dirac heavy neutrino is coupled to a dark Dirac fermion and a dark complex scalar field, both charged under a discrete $Z_2$ symmetry, where the lighter of the two is a dark matter candidate. Focussing on the fermionic dark matter case, we explore the parameter space of the seesaw Yukawa couplings, the neutrino portal couplings and dark scalar to dark fermion mass ratio, where correct dark matter relic abundance can be produced by the freeze-in mechanism. By considering the mixing between between the standard model neutrinos and the heavy neutrino, we build a connection between the dark matter production and current laboratory experiments ranging from collider to lepton flavour violating experiments. For a GeV mass heavy neutrino, the parameters related to dark matter production are constrained by the experimental results directly and can be further tested by future experiments such as SHiP.