Boxed in from all sides: a global fit to loopy dark matter and neutrino masses

Abstract

We investigate a dark matter model that couples to the standard model through a one-loop interaction with neutrinos, where the mediator particles also generate neutrino masses. We perform a global fit that incorporates dark matter relic abundance, primordial nucleosynthesis, neutrino mass, collider and indirect detection constraints. Thanks to the loop suppression, large couplings are allowed, and we find that the model parameters are constrained on all sides. Dark matter masses from 10 MeV to a few TeV are allowed, but sub-GeV masses are preferred for the model to also account for the heaviest neutrino mass. Though our results are valid for a single neutrino mass eigenstate at a time, the model and methods are generalizable to the full 3-flavor case.

Comments: 10+5 pages, 8+1 figures. Version 2: Accepted for publication in PRD. No major changes