Up-type FCNC in presence of Dark Matter

A bstract Dark Matter (DM) is a known unknown. Apart, current experimental constraints on flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) processes involving up-type quarks also provide scope to explore physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). In this article, we establish a connection between the flavor sector and the DM sector with minimal extension of the SM. Here a singlet complex scalar field, stable under $$ {\mathcal{Z}}_3 $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Z</mml:mi> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> symmetry, acts as DM and couples to SM up-type quarks through a heavy Dirac vector-like quark (VLQ), which shares the same $$ {\mathcal{Z}}_3 $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Z</mml:mi> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> charge as of the DM. The model is compatible with the observed $$ {D}^0-{\overline{D}}^0 $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>D</mml:mi> <mml:mn>0</mml:mn> </mml:msup> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>D</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> <mml:mn>0</mml:mn> </mml:msup> </mml:math> mixing, top-FCNC interactions, and D 0 meson decays, together with DM relic density, while evading the direct and indirect DM search bounds. The model can be probed at the future high-energy muon collider, through distinctive signatures of VLQ production, where the VLQ decays into DM and SM particles, abiding by the existing bounds.