The Moduli Portal to Dark Matter
Particles
Maíra Dutra
Abstract The out-of-equilibrium production of dark matter (DM) from standard
model (SM) species in the early universe (freeze-in mechanism) is expected in
many scenarios in which very heavy beyond the SM fields act as mediators. In this
conference, I have talked about the freeze-in of scalar, fermionic, and vector DM
through the exchange of moduli fields (Chowdhury et al. Phys Rev D 99(9):095028,
2019), which are in the low-energy spectrum of many extra-dimensions and string
theory frameworks. We have shown that the high temperature dependencies of
the production rate densities in this model, as well as the possibility of having
moduli masses at the post-inflationary reheating scale, make it crucial to consider
the contribution of the freeze-in prior the start of the standard radiation era for a
correct prediction of the DM relic density.
Keywords Dark matter · Moduli fields · Freeze-in production
1 Introduction
The close relationship between the couplings dark matter (DM) particles might have
to particles belonging to the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM) and their
evolution through the early universe makes the DM puzzle an open problem in the
interface between particle physics and cosmology.
Direct detection searches seek to detect nuclear or electronic recoils from DM
scatterings, and the current status of no positive signals but more and more sensitive
detectors mean that the SM-DM couplings need to be weaker and weaker. However,
very weak couplings might imply that DM and SM particles were never in thermal
equilibrium in the early universe. The out-of-equilibrium production of DM from
SM species in the early universe, which is the so-called freeze-in mechanism [1–3],
is expected in many scenarios in which very heavy beyond the SM (BSM) fields act
M. Dutra ()
Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
e-mail: mdutra@physics.carleton.ca
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. B. Paranjape et al. (eds.), Quantum Theory and Symmetries, CRM Series in
Mathematical Physics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55777-5_39
427
Particles
Maíra Dutra
Abstract The out-of-equilibrium production of dark matter (DM) from standard
model (SM) species in the early universe (freeze-in mechanism) is expected in
many scenarios in which very heavy beyond the SM fields act as mediators. In this
conference, I have talked about the freeze-in of scalar, fermionic, and vector DM
through the exchange of moduli fields (Chowdhury et al. Phys Rev D 99(9):095028,
2019), which are in the low-energy spectrum of many extra-dimensions and string
theory frameworks. We have shown that the high temperature dependencies of
the production rate densities in this model, as well as the possibility of having
moduli masses at the post-inflationary reheating scale, make it crucial to consider
the contribution of the freeze-in prior the start of the standard radiation era for a
correct prediction of the DM relic density.
Keywords Dark matter · Moduli fields · Freeze-in production
1 Introduction
The close relationship between the couplings dark matter (DM) particles might have
to particles belonging to the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM) and their
evolution through the early universe makes the DM puzzle an open problem in the
interface between particle physics and cosmology.
Direct detection searches seek to detect nuclear or electronic recoils from DM
scatterings, and the current status of no positive signals but more and more sensitive
detectors mean that the SM-DM couplings need to be weaker and weaker. However,
very weak couplings might imply that DM and SM particles were never in thermal
equilibrium in the early universe. The out-of-equilibrium production of DM from
SM species in the early universe, which is the so-called freeze-in mechanism [1–3],
is expected in many scenarios in which very heavy beyond the SM (BSM) fields act
M. Dutra ()
Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
e-mail: mdutra@physics.carleton.ca
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. B. Paranjape et al. (eds.), Quantum Theory and Symmetries, CRM Series in
Mathematical Physics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55777-5_39
427