darkbaryon

Darkbaryon is a hypothetical composite particle formed from dark quarks bound by a confining gauge interaction in a hidden sector, analogous to SM baryons. If the dark sector has an SU(N) gauge group with confinement scale Λ_dark, dark quarks can form bound states that are stable due to a conserved dark baryon number or kinematics, making them potential dark matter constituents.

The properties of darkbaryons depend on the model: masses can span from a few GeV up to several TeV; sizes are set by the confinement length; interactions with the standard model are typically weak, occurring through portal couplings or higher-dimensional operators. Darkbaryons may have self-interactions that affect astrophysical structure, potentially alleviating small-scale tensions.

In cosmology, their relic abundance may arise from freeze-out or freeze-in in the dark sector. Direct detection is challenging without significant portal couplings; indirect signatures could include dark radiation, decays, or visible effects from portal mediators. Constraints come from the cosmic microwave background, large-scale structure, and collider searches for missing energy or new resonances.

The concept appears in theories of dark QCD, hidden valleys, and composite dark matter. Researchers study spectra, stability, and phenomenology to determine viable masses and interactions and to identify possible experimental probes.