Can LLP detectors probe the reheating temperature? A case study of vector dark matter

Abstract

We study an extension of the singlet-scalar Higgs portal featuring a dark vector $V_{\mu }$ and a real scalar $\varphi$. The vector is a dark matter (DM) candidate, while $\varphi$ is long-lived and decays via higher-dimensional operators. We explore the DM production via freeze-in at low and high reheating temperatures. At colliders, the decay $\varphi \to Z+V$ yields distinctive long-lived particle (LLP) signatures. We explore the interplay between cosmological constraints and LLP searches at the LHC and FCC-hh, showing that far detectors can probe otherwise inaccessible parameter space and place novel bounds on the reheating temperature.

Comments: 31 pages, 15 figures