Fermionic dark matter interaction with the photon and the proton in the quantum field-theoretical approach and generalizations

Abstract

Mass dimension one quantum fields, constructed upon eigenspinors of the charge conjugation operator with dual helicity (ELKO), are prime candidates to describe dark matter. Their interaction with the photon and the proton, in scattering processes, are here explored and discussed, using both the standard QFT with a Maxwell gauge field and a generalized QFT also involving a Podolsky gauge sector. Renormalization and radiative corrections are analyzed in the ELKO setup, in the context of a generalized spinor dual and the twisted conjugation, both yielding unitarity. Several applications are scrutinized, involving the inherent darkness underlying ELKO construction and galaxies rotation curves, the non-relativistic potential regime, and the M{\o}ller-like scattering involving ELKO.