Exploring the Dark Sector of the Extended FNSM at the LHC

We establish the possibility of having a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson (pNGB) Dark Matter (DM) candidate in the Froggatt-Nielsen Singlet Model (FNSM) wherein a direct connection exists between the DM mass and flavon symmetry-breaking scale. We find a considerable allowed region of parameter space for the ensuing pseudoscalar DM, which is dependent upon the flavon Vacuum Expectation Value (VEV) and Yukawa couplings, over which it may be possible to explain the fermion mass hierarchy. Finally, we choose a Benchmark Point (BP) and perform detailed collider analyses to probe this DM state in the context of Run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Specifically, in this model, one obtains large missing transverse energy (ET) when the DM particle is resonantly produced from the decay of a heavy Higgs field, along with multiple jets from Initial State Radiation (ISR). Thus, the ensuing ET + n\, jets~(n ≥ 1) signature is an excellent probe of DM in this construct.