Dark matter in minimal dimensional transmutation with multicritical-point principle

We investigate a model with two real scalar fields that minimally generates exponentially different scales in an analog of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. The classical scale invariance — the absence of dimensionful parameters in the tree-level action, required in such a scale generation — can naturally be understood as a special case of the multicritical-point principle. This two-scalar model can couple to the Standard Model Higgs field to realize a maximum multicriticality (with all the dimensionful parameters being tuned to critical values) for field values around the electroweak scale, providing a generalization of the classical scale invariance to a wider class of criticality. As a bonus, one of the two scalars can be identified as Higgs-portal dark matter. We find that this model can be consistent with the constraints from dark matter relic abundance, its direct detection experiments, and the latest LHC data, while keeping the perturbativity up to the reduced Planck scale. We then present successful benchmark points satisfying all these constraints: the mass of dark matter is a few TeV, and its scattering cross section with nuclei is of the order of 10−9 pb, reachable in near future experiments. The mass of extra Higgs boson H is smaller than or of the order of 100 GeV, and the cross section of e+e− → ZH can be of fb level for collision energy 250 GeV, targetted at future lepton colliders.

Magnetic Field and Dilution Effects on the Phase Diagrams of Simple Statistical Models for Nematic Biaxial Systems

We use a simple statistical model to investigate the effects of an applied magnetic field and of the dilution of site elements on the phase diagrams of biaxial nematic systems, with an emphasis on the stability of the Landau multicritical point. The statistical lattice model consists of intrinsically biaxial nematogenic units, which interact via a Maier–Saupe potential, and which are characterized by a discrete choice of orientations of the microscopic nematic directors. According to previous calculations at zero field and in the absence of dilution, we regain the well-known sequence of biaxial, uniaxial, and disordered structures as the temperature is increased, and locate the Landau point. We then focus on the topological changes induced in the phase diagram by the application of an external magnetic field, and show that the Landau point is destabilized by the presence of an applied field. On the other hand, in the absence of a field, we show that only a quite strong dilution of nematic sites is capable of destabilizing the Landau point.