Multi-component scalar dark matter from a ZN symmetry: a systematic analysis

The dark matter may consist not of one elementary particle but of different species, each of them contributing a fraction of the observed dark matter density. A major theoretical difficulty with this scenario --dubbed multi-component dark matter-- is to explain the stability of these distinct particles. Imposing a single Z_Nsymmetry, which may be a remnant of a spontaneously broken U(1)gauge symmetry, seems to be the simplest way to...