Indirect detection of long-lived particles in a rich dark sector with a dark vector portal

TL;DR

This paper introduces a complex dark sector model with a long-lived dark Higgs and heavy dark matter, revealing new phenomenological features that enhance detection strategies across multiple experimental fronts.

Contribution

It presents a non-minimal dark photon portal model with a long-lived dark Higgs and heavy DM, exploring novel detection signatures and non-local effects in indirect detection.

Findings

New phenomenological features in dark sector interactions

Complementary detection strategies across experiments

Potential non-local effects impacting indirect detection

Abstract

Simplified models of light new physics provide a convenient benchmark for experimental searches for new physics signatures, including dark matter (DM). However, additional detection modes can arise in less simplified and more realistic scenarios where new degrees of freedom are invoked. In this study, we introduce a non-minimal model based on a popular dark photon portal to DM where the mediator mass is obtained by interactions with the dark Higgs boson which acts as a long-lived particle. We further add to this scenario a new heavy DM species secluded from the Standard Model. In this model, which involves light and heavy particles in the dark sector, we find some new interesting phenomenological features that lead to complementary probes in intensity frontier searches for light long-lived particles, indirect detection searches for dark matter, and cosmic microwave background surveys. We also find possible non-local effects in the DM indirect detection searches that could significantly affect the usual detection strategies.