Pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone Dark Matter in Flux Compactification

TL;DR

This paper explores a six-dimensional gauge theory compactified on a magnetized torus, proposing a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson as a dark matter candidate that naturally evades direct detection constraints while matching relic abundance.

Contribution

It introduces a novel pNG dark matter model from flux compactification without extra scalars, demonstrating compatibility with experimental bounds and relic density.

Findings

The model's spin-independent DM-nucleus amplitude is suppressed by momentum transfer.

It successfully explains the observed relic abundance.

The model evades current direct detection bounds.

Abstract

We study a six-dimensional U(1)$_\chi$ gauge theory compactified on a magnetized torus, where the zero mode of the extra-dimensional gauge field (a Wilson-line (WL) scalar field) plays the role of a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone (pNG) dark matter (DM) candidate. The pNG DM is naturally included by construction without introducing an additional scalar field. We show that the leading spin-independent DM-nucleus amplitude is suppressed by momentum transfer in our model as expected from the pNG DM model. This suppression allows the model to evade the current severe direct-detection bounds while achieving the observed thermal relic abundance in well-defined regions of parameter space.