The Strange Physics of Dark Baryons

TL;DR

This paper explores how hyperon decays involving strange quarks could reveal dark baryons, connecting dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry, and experimental searches at collider facilities.

Contribution

It provides novel calculations of hyperon decay matrix elements and assesses their potential for discovering dark baryons in current and future experiments.

Findings

Hyperon decays could produce detectable signals of dark baryons.

Expected decay rates are within reach of experiments like BESIII and LHCb.

The work links hyperon decays to neutron lifetime anomaly and Mesogenesis theories.

Abstract

Dark sector particles at the GeV scale carrying baryon number provide an attractive framework for understanding the origin of dark matter and the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe. We demonstrate that dark decays of hadronic states containing strange quarks -- hyperons -- offer excellent prospects for discovering such dark baryons. Building up on novel calculations of the matrix elements relevant for hyperon dark decays, and in view of various collider, flavor, and astrophysical constraints, we determine the expected rates at hyperon factories like BESIII and LHCb. We also highlight the interesting theoretical connections of hyperon dark decays to the neutron lifetime anomaly and Mesogenesis.