- Open Access
Vectorlike dark matter within an alternative left-right symmetric model
Phys. Rev. D 113, 095037 – Published 26 May, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ksx2-z8s3
Abstract
We investigate an extension of the left-right symmetric model featuring an additional non-Abelian gauge symmetry. The particle content is augmented by one generation of vectorlike leptons transforming under the fundamental representation of this new gauge group. We demonstrate that the neutral component of the vectorlike lepton multiplet naturally provides a viable and stable dark matter candidate. Stability is ensured by imposing a discrete parity symmetry that forbids mixing between the vectorlike leptons and the Standard Model leptons. As a consequence, the dark sector interacts with the visible sector exclusively through the vector portal (via s-channel processes) and the vectorlike lepton portal (via t-channel processes). In our analysis, we incorporate collider constraints on the mass of the first-generation extra charged gauge boson , while assuming that additional scalar states are decoupled from the relevant energy scale for simplicity. We identify the regions of parameter space consistent with the observed relic abundance, collider bounds on the charged partner , current direct detection limits from the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment and indirect detection constraints from Fermi-Large Area Telescope. We find viable dark matter with a mass at the TeV scale. We show the complementarity of direct and indirect searches in probing the remaining parameter space of the model, in particular comparing the prospects of multiton direct detection experiments such as Xenon-Lux-Zeplin-Darwin and of the Cherenkov Telescope Array.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
References (54)
- J. C. Pati and A. Salam, Lepton number as the fourth color, Phys. Rev. D 10, 275 (1974); 11, 703(E) (1975).
- R. N. Mohapatra and J. C. Pati, A natural left-right symmetry, Phys. Rev. D 11, 2558 (1975).
- G. Senjanovic and R. N. Mohapatra, Exact left-right symmetry and spontaneous violation of parity, Phys. Rev. D 12, 1502 (1975).
- P. Duka, J. Gluza, and M. Zralek, Quantization and renormalization of the manifest left-right symmetric model of electroweak interactions, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 280, 336 (2000).
- A. Roitgrund, G. Eilam, and S. Bar-Shalom, Implementation of the left-right symmetric model in feynrules, Comput. Phys. Commun. 203, 18 (2016).
- N. G. Deshpande, J. F. Gunion, B. Kayser, and F. I. Olness, Left-right symmetric electroweak models with triplet Higgs, Phys. Rev. D 44, 837 (1991).
- R. N. Mohapatra, Unification and Supersymmetry: The Frontiers of Quark-Lepton Physics, 3rd ed. (Springer, New York, 2022).
- R. N. Mohapatra, Mechanism for understanding small neutrino mass in superstring theories, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 561 (1986).
- R. N. Mohapatra and J. W. F. Valle, Neutrino mass and baryon number nonconservation in superstring models, Phys. Rev. D 34, 1642 (1986).
- M. Nemevsek, G. Senjanovic, and Y. Zhang, Warm dark matter in low scale left-right theory, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 07 (2012) 006.
- J. Heeck and S. Patra, Minimal left-right symmetric dark matter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 121804 (2015).
- W.-l. Guo, L.-m. Wang, Y.-l. Wu, and C. Zhuang, The dark matter constraints on the left-right symmetric model with symmetry, Phys. Rev. D 78, 035015 (2008).
- W.-L. Guo, L.-M. Wang, Y.-L. Wu, Y.-F. Zhou, and C. Zhuang, Gauge-singlet dark matter in a left-right symmetric model with spontaneous violation, Phys. Rev. D 79, 055015 (2009).
- S. Patra and S. Rao, Singlet fermion dark matter within left-right model, Phys. Lett. B 759, 454 (2016).
- C. Garcia-Cely and J. Heeck, Phenomenology of left-right symmetric dark matter, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 03 (2016) 021.
- S. Bhattacharyya and A. Datta, Dark matter perspective of left-right symmetric gauge model, Nucl. Phys. B 991, 116197 (2023).
- A. Berlin, P. J. Fox, D. Hooper, and G. Mohlabeng, Mixed dark matter in left-right symmetric models, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 06 (2016) 016.
- P. S. B. Dev, R. N. Mohapatra, and Y. Zhang, Heavy right-handed neutrino dark matter in left–right models, Mod. Phys. Lett. A 32, 1740007 (2017).
- S. Bahrami, M. Frank, D. K. Ghosh, N. Ghosh, and I. Saha, Dark matter and collider studies in the left-right symmetric model with vectorlike leptons, Phys. Rev. D 95, 095024 (2017).
- Y. Bouzeraib and M. S. Zidi, Alternative framework for the left-right symmetric model including vector-like fermions, arXiv:2603.07608.
- G. Belanger, A. Pukhov, and G. Servant, Dirac neutrino dark matter, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 01 (2008) 009.
- N. Aghanim et al. (Planck Collaboration), Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters, Astron. Astrophys. 641, A6 (2020); 652, C4(E) (2021).
- J. Aalbers et al. (LZ Collaboration), Dark matter search results from 4.2 tonne-years of exposure of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 011802 (2025).
- V. Bonnivard et al., Dark matter annihilation and decay in dwarf spheroidal galaxies: The classical and ultrafaint dSphs, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 453, 849 (2015).
- A. Alvarez, F. Calore, A. Genina, J. Read, P. D. Serpico, and B. Zaldivar, Dark matter constraints from dwarf galaxies with data-driven J-factors, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 09 (2020) 004.
- J. Aalbers et al., A next-generation liquid xenon observatory for dark matter and neutrino physics, J. Phys. G 50, 013001 (2023).
- A. Acharyya et al. (CTA Collaboration), Sensitivity of the Cherenkov telescope array to a dark matter signal from the Galactic centre, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 01 (2021) 057.
- Y. Zhang, H. An, X. Ji, and R. N. Mohapatra, Right-handed quark mixings in minimal left-right symmetric model with general CP violation, Phys. Rev. D 76, 091301 (2007).
- L. Lopez Honorez, E. Nezri, J. F. Oliver, and M. H. G. Tytgat, The inert doublet model: An archetype for dark matter, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 02 (2007) 028.
- L. Lopez Honorez and C. E. Yaguna, The inert doublet model of dark matter revisited, J. High Energy Phys. 09 (2010) 046.
- L. Lopez Honorez and C. E. Yaguna, A new viable region of the inert doublet model, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 01 (2011) 002.
- B. Batell, Dark discrete gauge symmetries, Phys. Rev. D 83, 035006 (2011).
- M. Hirsch, S. Morisi, E. Peinado, and J. W. F. Valle, Discrete dark matter, Phys. Rev. D 82, 116003 (2010).
- L. Lavoura, S. Morisi, and J. W. F. Valle, Accidental stability of dark matter, J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2013) 118.
- K. Earl, K. Hartling, H. E. Logan, and T. Pilkington, Two viable large scalar multiplet models with a symmetry, Phys. Rev. D 90, 055029 (2014); 92, 039902(E) (2015).
- E. Ma and A. Natale, Scotogenic or model of neutrino mass with symmetry, Phys. Lett. B 734, 403 (2014).
- S. Baek, P. Ko, and W.-I. Park, Local scalar dark matter model confronting galactic -scale -ray, Phys. Lett. B 747, 255 (2015).
- J. M. Lamprea and E. Peinado, Seesaw scale discrete dark matter and two-zero texture Majorana neutrino mass matrices, Phys. Rev. D 94, 055007 (2016).
- G. Bélanger, S. Choubey, R. M. Godbole, S. Khan, M. Mitra, and A. Roy, WIMP and FIMP dark matter in singlet-triplet fermionic model, J. High Energy Phys. 11 (2022) 133.
- A. Tumasyan et al. (CMS Collaboration), Search for a right-handed W boson and a heavy neutrino in proton-proton collisions at , J. High Energy Phys. 04 (2022) 047.
- D. Abbaneo et al. (ALEPH, DELPHI, L3, OPAL, LEP Electroweak Working Group, SLD Heavy Flavor, and Electroweak Groups Collaborations), A combination of preliminary electroweak measurements and constraints on the standard model, arXiv:hep-ex/0112021.
- A. Heister et al. (ALEPH Collaboration), Search for charginos nearly mass degenerate with the lightest neutralino in collisions at center-of-mass energies up to 209-GeV, Phys. Lett. B 533, 223 (2002).
- M. Aaboud et al. (ATLAS Collaboration), Search for heavy charged long-lived particles in the ATLAS detector in of proton-proton collision data at , Phys. Rev. D 99, 092007 (2019).
- S. Chatrchyan et al. (CMS Collaboration), Searches for long-lived charged particles in collisions at and 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 07 (2013) 122; 11 (2022) 149(E).
- V. Khachatryan et al. (CMS Collaboration), Constraints on the pMSSM, AMSB model and on other models from the search for long-lived charged particles in proton-proton collisions at , Eur. Phys. J. C 75, 325 (2015).
- M. M. Altakach, S. Kraml, A. Lessa, S. Narasimha, T. Pascal, C. Ramos, Y. Villamizar, and W. Waltenberger, SModelS v3: Going beyond topologies, J. High Energy Phys. 11 (2024) 074.
- G. Alguero, G. Belanger, F. Boudjema, S. Chakraborti, A. Goudelis, S. Kraml, A. Mjallal, and A. Pukhov, micromegas 6.0: N-component dark matter, Comput. Phys. Commun. 299, 109133 (2024).
- A. Alloul, N. D. Christensen, C. Degrande, C. Duhr, and B. Fuks, feynrules 2.0—A complete toolbox for tree-level phenomenology, Comput. Phys. Commun. 185, 2250 (2014).
- A. Belyaev, N. D. Christensen, and A. Pukhov, calchep 3.4 for collider physics within and beyond the Standard Model, Comput. Phys. Commun. 184, 1729 (2013).
- S. Banerjee, F. Boudjema, N. Chakrabarty, G. Chalons, and H. Sun, Relic density of dark matter in the inert doublet model beyond leading order: The heavy mass case, Phys. Rev. D 100, 095024 (2019).
- S. Banerjee, F. Boudjema, N. Chakrabarty, and H. Sun, Relic density of dark matter in the inert doublet model beyond leading order for the low mass region: I. Renormalisation and constraints, Phys. Rev. D 104, 075002 (2021).
- G. Bélanger, A. Pukhov, C. E. Yaguna, and Ó. Zapata, The model of three-component scalar dark matter, J. High Energy Phys. 03 (2023) 100.
- G. Belanger, J. Da Silva, and A. Pukhov, The right-handed sneutrino as thermal dark matter in U(1) extensions of the MSSM, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 12 (2011) 014.
- J. Billard, L. Strigari, and E. Figueroa-Feliciano, Implication of neutrino backgrounds on the reach of next generation dark matter direct detection experiments, Phys. Rev. D 89, 023524 (2014).