Singlet-Doublet fermion origin of dark matter, neutrino mass and inverse first-order electroweak phase transition

Abstract

We study the possibility of an inverse first-order electroweak phase transition (IFOEWPT) and observable gravitational waves (GW) in a radiative neutrino mass model of scotogenic type where singlet-doublet (SD) fermions, the lightest of whom is the dark matter (DM) candidate, generate the necessary seesaw at one-loop level. Considering the possibility of light neutrinos being Dirac for simplicity and additional detection prospects, we extend the standard model (SM) with two generations of $SU(2)_L$ singlet and doublet fermions, one singlet scalar, and three right-handed neutrinos (RHNs). While RHNs provide the right chiral parts of light Dirac neutrinos, the SD fermions and the scalar singlet facilitate the one-loop neutrino mass diagram. The neutral component of the lighter SD fermion, stabilized under a residual $Z_2$ symmetry plays the role of DM while the heavier SD fermions strongly couple to the Higgs leading to an IFOEWPT where the Universe undergoes two different first-order phase transition as it goes from the symmetric to the final broken Higgs phase. We constrain the parameter space from the requirements of generating the correct neutrino mass, DM relic as well as IFOEWPT while incorporating the existing constraints from different experiments. The final allowed parameter space of the model can be probed at collider, direct-detection, GW and cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments in near future.