Models of decaying FIMP Dark Matter: potential links with the Neutrino Sector

Abstract

The absolute stability of a dark matter (DM) particle is not a binding requirement. Here we suggest a few scenarios where the DM particle is liable to decay via extremely feeble interactions. This can happen via inexplicably small Yukawa couplings in the simplest conjectures. After setting down such a model, we go beyond it, thus treading onto scenarios where the spontaneous breakdown of some gauged U(1) symmetry may lead to intermediate scales, and suitably suppressed effective operators which allow the DM particle to decay slowly. The constraints from particle physics as well as cosmology are taken into account in each case. The last and more involved scenario, studied in detail, suggest a link between the model parameters that govern neutrino physics on one side, and the dynamics of a quasi-stable DM particle on the other.