A model of light pseudoscalar dark matter

The EW-νR model was constructed in order to provide a seesaw scenario operating at the Electroweak scale ΛEW∼246 GeV, keeping the same SM gauge structure. In this model, right-handed neutrinos are non-sterile and have masses of the order ΛEW. They can be searched for at the LHC along with heavy mirror quarks and leptons, the lightest of which has large decay lengths. The model also incorporates a rich scalar sector, consistent with various experimental constraints, predicts a ∼125 GeV scalar with the SM Higgs characteristics satisfying the current LHC Higgs boson data. The seesaw mechanism requires the existence of a complex scalar which is singlet under the SM gauge group. The imaginary part of this complex scalar denoted by As0 is proposed to be the sub-MeV dark matter candidate in this manuscript. We find that the sub-MeV scalar can serve as a viable non-thermal feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP)-DM candidate. This As0 can be a naturally light sub-MeV DM candidate due to its nature as a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone (PNG) boson in the model. We show that the well-studied freeze out mechanism falls short in this particular framework producing DM overabundance. We identify that the freeze in mechanism produces the correct order of relic density for the sub-MeV DM candidate satisfying all applicable constraints. We also discuss the allowed parameter space arising from the current indirect search bounds for this sub-MeV DM.