Dark matter shifts away from direct detection

Understand

Dark matter could emerge along with the Higgs as a composite pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson $\chi$ with decay constant $f\sim \mathrm{TeV}$.

• This type of WIMP is especially compelling because its leading interaction with the Standard Model, the derivative Higgs portal, has the correct annihilation strength for thermal freeze-out if $m_\chi \sim O(100)$ GeV, but is negligible in direct detection experiments due to the very small momentum transfer.
• The explicit breaking of the shift symmetry which radiatively generates $m_\chi$, however, introduces non-derivative DM interactions.
• In existing realizations a marginal Higgs portal coupling $\lambda$ is generated with size comparable to the Higgs quartic, and thus well within reach of XENON1T.