Dark matter candidate in an extended type III seesaw scenario

Abstract

The type III seesaw mechanism for neutrino mass generation usually makes use of at least two $Y = 0$, $SU(2)_L$ lepton triplets. We augment such a model with a third triplet and a sterile neutrino, both of which are odd under a conserved $\Z_2$ symmetry. With all new physics confined to the $\Z_2$-odd sector, whose low energy manifestation is in some higher-dimensional operators, a fermionic dark matter candidate is found to emerge. We identify the region of the parameter space of the scenario, which is consistent with all constraints from relic density and direct searches, and allows a wide range of masses for the dark matter candidate.