Hyperstealth dark matter and long-lived particles

Fleming, George T, Kribs, Graham D, Neil, Ethan T, Schaich, David ORCID: 0000-0002-9826-2951 and Vranas, Pavlos M (2025) Hyperstealth dark matter and long-lived particles PHYSICAL REVIEW D, 112 (7). pp. 1-23. ISSN 2470-0010, 2470-0029

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Abstract

A new dark matter candidate is proposed that arises as the lightest baryon from a confining SUðNÞ gauge theory which equilibrates with the Standard Model only through electroweak interactions. Surprisingly, this candidate can be as light as a few GeV. The lower bound arises from the intersection of two competing requirements: (i) the equilibration sector of the model must be sufficiently heavy, at least several TeV, to avoid bounds from colliders, and (ii) the lightest dark meson (that may be the dark η¹, σ, or the lightest glueball) has suppressed interactions with the SM and must decay before big bang nucleosynthesis. The low-energy dark sector consists of one flavor that is electrically neutral and an almost electroweak singlet. The dark matter candidate is the lightest baryon consisting of N of these light flavors leading to a highly suppressed elastic scattering rate with the Standard Model (SM). The equilibration sector consists of vectorlike dark quarks that transform under the electroweak group, ensuring that the dark sector can reach thermal equilibrium with the SM in the early Universe. The lightest dark meson lifetimes vary between 10⁻³ ≲ cτ ≲ 10⁷ m, providing an outstanding target for LHC production and experimental detection. We delineate the interplay between the lifetime of the light mesons, the suppressed direct detection cross section of the lightest baryon, and the scale of equilibration sector that can be probed at the LHC.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	5106 Nuclear and Plasma Physics, 5107 Particle and High Energy Physics, 51 Physical Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Science & Engineering Faculty of Science & Engineering > School of Physical Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2025 07:57
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 17:10
DOI:	10.1103/9nv9-rqq7
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1103/9nv9-rqq7
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3194724
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