Coloured coannihilations: dark matter phenomenology meets non-relativistic EFTs

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the phenomenology of a simplified model with a Majorana fermion as dark matter candidate which interacts with Standard Model quarks via a colourcharged coannihilation partner. Recently it has been realized that non-perturbative dynamics, including the Sommerfeld effect, bound state formation/dissociation and thermal corrections, play an important role in coannihilations with coloured mediators. This calls for a careful analysis of thermal freeze-out and a new look at the experimental signatures expected for a thermal relic. We employ a state of the art calculation of the relic density which makes use of a non-relativistic effective theory framework and calculate the effective annihilation rates by solving a plasma-modified Schrödinger equation. We determine the cosmologically preferred parameter space and confront it with current experimental limits and future prospects for dark matter detection.

Keywords

• Beyond Standard Model
• Cosmology of Theories beyond the SM
• Effective Field Theories
• Thermal Field Theory