Absorption of Fermionic Dark Matter via the Scalar Portal

TL;DR

This paper develops a UV-complete model for fermionic dark matter absorption via a scalar portal, analyzing its detectability and relic abundance constraints, and finds the absorption signal is suppressed in viable parameter space.

Contribution

It constructs the first UV completion for the scalar operator related to fermionic dark matter absorption and explores its experimental and cosmological implications.

Findings

Viable parameter space can be probed by next-generation experiments like XLZD.

The model can produce the correct relic abundance via freeze-out.

Absorption signal is highly suppressed in the parameter space consistent with relic abundance.

Abstract

The absorption of fermionic dark matter has recently been studied as a signature for the direct detection of dark matter. We construct the first UV completion of the scalar effective operator associated with this signature. We calculate the constraints on the model and demonstrate there is viable parameter space which can be probed by a next-generation experiment such as XLZD. We also consider the cosmological history of our model and show that the correct relic abundance can be obtained via freeze-out in the dark sector. However, within this minimal model, we find that the absorption signal is highly suppressed in the parameter space that yields the correct relic abundance.