Toward a Comprehensive Exploration of Flavored Dark Matter Models

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive framework for analyzing flavored dark matter models, integrating relic density, detection limits, collider data, and flavor observables, and demonstrates its application to specific Majorana dark matter scenarios.

Contribution

It introduces a new, publicly available framework that combines multiple constraints and analyses for flavored dark matter models, including SMEFT matching and RG evolution.

Findings

Flavor-violating decays constrain leptophilic dark matter models.

LHC searches still allow significant parameter space for leptophilic scenarios.

Direct detection and meson mixing impose strong limits on quark-coupled dark matter.

Abstract

We present a comprehensive framework for the study of flavored dark matter models, combining relic density calculations with direct and indirect detection limits, collider constraints, and a global analysis of flavor observables based on SMEFT matching and renormalization-group evolution. The framework applies to scalar or fermionic dark matter, including both self-conjugate and non-self-conjugate cases. As a proof of principle, we analyze two scenarios with Majorana dark matter coupling to right-handed charged leptons and to right-handed down-type quarks, assuming a thermal freeze-out. In the leptophilic case, flavor-violating decays such as $\mu \to e \gamma$ dominate the constraints, while LHC searches still leave sizable parameter space. For quark couplings, direct detection bounds and meson mixing severely restrict the allowed couplings, favoring hierarchical flavor structures. The toolchain presented in this paper is publicly available on GitHub (https://github.com/lena-ra/Flavored-Dark-Matter).