Sarclet

A sarclet is a hypothetical elementary particle proposed in some theoretical physics models, specifically those that attempt to address dark matter. The term is derived from a portmanteau of "self-interacting dark matter candidate" and "singlet."

Sarclets are theorized to be gauge singlets, meaning they do not interact through the fundamental forces of the Standard Model (electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces). Instead, they primarily interact through a self-interaction force, meaning they interact strongly with other sarclets. This self-interaction is proposed as a mechanism to explain observed distributions of dark matter in galaxies and galaxy clusters, which sometimes deviate from predictions made by collisionless dark matter models.

The properties of sarclets, such as their mass and the strength of their self-interaction, are highly model-dependent and constrained by observational data. Detection of sarclets, if they exist, would likely require indirect methods, such as searching for the effects of their self-interactions on the distribution of dark matter. Direct detection is exceedingly difficult due to their lack of interaction with Standard Model particles.

The concept of sarclets is an active area of research in particle physics and cosmology.