Suppressing the Scattering of WIMP DM and Nucleon in Supersymmetric Theories

Abstract

So far dark matter direct detection experiments have indicated any dark matter particle to have feeble interactions with nucleons, while the dark matter relic density favors it to take part in weak interactions. We point out that the neutralino dark matter in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) fails to process these two seemingly contradictory features in their most natural parameter space due to the limited theoretical structure. By contrast, the seesaw extension of the NMSSM, which was originally proposed to solve neutrino mass problem, enables the lightest sneutrino as a new viable DM candidate to readily have the features, and thus satisfies the constraints of the DM measurements in its broad parameter space. Compared with the Type-I seesaw extension, the dark matter physics in the inverse seesaw extension is more flexible to be consistent with current dark matter and collider experimental results. We conclude that the weakly interacting massive particles in supersymmetric theory is still a promising dark matter candidate.