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Multi-component scalar dark matter from a spherical compactification

University of British Columbia

Current cosmological measurements of the various components of mass in the Universe indicate that a significant contribution to the total mass density is due to a previously undiscovered type of matter that must be both non-luminous and non-baryonic in nature, aptly named dark matter. The standard model of particle physics, while describing the results of collider experiments with unprecedented precision, does not include a suitable dark matter candidate. All of this is clear and strong evidence for the existence of new physics beyond both the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. One of the recent main areas of interest to physicists exploring beyond standard model physics is theories which incorporate extra dimensions. All of these theories postulate that the 3+1 spacetime that we experience exists as a localized subspace embedded within a larger (3+n)+1 spacetime. Among the many interesting motivations for exploring the phenomenology of extra dimensional models is the existence of a viable dark matter candidate, which has been found to arise somewhat naturally within the context of certain models. In the present work we consider a six dimensional model in which the two extra spatial dimensions are compactified onto a spherical geometry. An imposed parity and a subset of the spherical symmetry of the extra dimensions is then exploited to stabilize a number of massive four dimensional Kaluza Klein excitations, thereby leading to a self interacting multi-component theory of dark matter. The Boltzmann equations describing this system are then solved in order to simultaneously determine the relic densities of the stable dark matter particles. In the following thesis, we will describe this theory in detail along with its motivations, consequences, and compatibility with current observational data.

Text

2010-03-24

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/22484

Physics

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/