Dark matter for excess of AMS-02 positrons and antiprotons

Understand

We propose a dark matter explanation to simultaneously account for the excess of antiproton-to-proton and positron power spectra observed in the AMS-02 experiment while having the right dark matter relic abundance and satisfying the current direct search bounds.

• We extend the Higgs triplet model with a hidden gauge symmetry of $SU(2)_X$ that is broken to $Z_3$ by a quadruplet scalar field, rendering the associated gauge bosons stable weakly-interacting massive particle dark matter candidates.
• By coupling the complex Higgs triplet and the $SU(2)_X$ quadruplet, the dark matter candidates can annihilate into triplet Higgs bosons each of which in turn decays into lepton or gauge boson final states.
• Such a mechanism gives rise to correct excess of positrons and antiprotons with an appropriate choice of the triplet vacuum expectation value.