The Minimal Model of nonbaryonic dark matter: a singlet scalar

We propose the simplest possible renormalizable extension of the Standard Model—the addition of just one singlet scalar field—as a minimalist model for nonbaryonic dark matter. Such a model is characterized by only three parameters in addition to those already appearing within the Standard Model: a dimensionless self-coupling and a mass for the new scalar, and a dimensionless coupling, λ, to the Higgs field. If the singlet is the dark matter, …