Mixed dark matter in left-right symmetric models

Abstract

Motivated by the recently reported diboson and dijet excesses in Run 1 data at ATLAS and CMS, we explore models of mixed dark matter in left-right symmetric theories. In this study, we calculate the relic abundance and the elastic scattering cross section with nuclei for a number of dark matter candidates that appear within the fermionic multiplets of left-right symmetric models. In contrast to the case of pure multiplets, WIMP-nucleon scattering proceeds at tree-level, and hence the projected reach of future direct detection experiments such as LUX-ZEPLIN and XENON1T will cover large regions of parameter space for TeV-scale thermal dark matter. Decays of the heavy charged W′ boson to particles in the dark sector can potentially shift the right-handed gauge coupling to larger values when fixed to the rate of the Run 1 excesses, moving towards the theoretically attractive scenario, gR = gL. This region of parameter space may be probed by future collider searches for new Higgs bosons or electroweak fermions.