A model of light pseudoscalar dark matter

Abstract

The EW-${\nu }_R$ model was constructed in order to provide a seesaw scenario operating at the Electroweak scale ${\Lambda }_{EW}\sim 246$ GeV, keeping the same SM gauge structure. In this model, right-handed neutrinos are non-sterile and have masses of the order ${\Lambda }_{EW}$. They can be searched for at the LHC along with heavy mirror quarks and leptons, the lightest of which has large decay lengths. The model also incorporates a rich scalar sector, consistent with various experimental constraints, predicts a ∼125 GeV scalar with the SM Higgs characteristics satisfying the current LHC Higgs boson data. The seesaw mechanism requires the existence of a complex scalar which is singlet under the SM gauge group. The imaginary part of this complex scalar denoted by $A_s^0$ is proposed to be the sub-MeV dark matter candidate in this manuscript. We find that the sub-MeV scalar can serve as a viable non-thermal feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP)-DM candidate. This $A_s^0$ can be a naturally light sub-MeV DM candidate due to its nature as a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone (PNG) boson in the model. We show that the well-studied freeze out mechanism falls short in this particular framework producing DM overabundance. We identify that the freeze in mechanism produces the correct order of relic density for the sub-MeV DM candidate satisfying all applicable constraints. We also discuss the allowed parameter space arising from the current indirect search bounds for this sub-MeV DM.