We present a simple and natural dark sector model in which dark matter particles arise as composite states of hidden strong dynamics and their stability is ensured by accidental symmetries. The model has only a few free parameters. In particular, the gauge symmetry of the model forbids the masses of dark quarks, and the confinement scale of the dynamics provides the unique mass scale of the model. The gauge group contains an Abelian symmetry $U(1{)}_D$, which couples the dark and standard model sectors through kinetic mixing. This model, despite its simple structure, has rich and distinctive phenomenology. In the case where the dark pion becomes massive due to $U(1{)}_D$ quantum corrections, direct and indirect detection experiments can probe thermal relic dark matter which is generically a mixture of the dark pion and the dark baryon, and the Large Hadron Collider can discover the $U(1{)}_D$ gauge boson. Alternatively, if the dark pion stays light due to a specific $U(1{)}_D$ charge assignment of the dark quarks, then the dark pion constitutes dark radiation. The signal of this radiation is highly correlated with that of dark baryons in dark matter direct detection.

• Received 24 October 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.101801