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  • Open Access

Complex scalar dark matter with effective Higgs portals beyond radiation domination

Manimala Mitra*, Dipankar Pradhan†, and Subham Saha‡

  • *Contact author: manimala@iopb.res.in
  • †Contact author: dipankar.pradhan@iopb.res.in
  • ‡Contact author: subham.saha@iopb.res.in
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 115047 – Published 18 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/245r-nqyk

Abstract

The increasingly stringent bounds on the Higgs-portal coupling, arising from dark matter (DM) direct-detection searches, confront the minimal renormalizable complex scalar DM scenario with thermal production, where freeze-out occurs in the standard radiation-dominated era. This limitation can be alleviated by introducing a dimension-five Higgs-portal operator in the minimal renormalizable complex scalar DM model and/or by modifying the standard cosmological history of the Universe. In this article, we analyze complex scalar DM production in both the reheating and radiation-dominated epochs within an effective field theory (EFT) framework. While both scenarios exhibit sizable regions of parameter space consistent with existing constraints, freeze-out during reheating opens up additional viable regions that are otherwise ruled out by DM overabundance in the radiation-dominated scenario. Notably, the renormalizable Higgs-portal coupling is constrained by relic density and direct- and indirect-detection limits. In contrast, the EFT coupling associated with the dimension-five operator is constrained by relic density and indirect-detection bounds arising from DM semiannihilation. We further study the production cross section of complex scalar DM at hadron and lepton colliders.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 115047– Published 18 June, 2026
  • Received 17 January 2026
  • Accepted 22 May 2026
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