Dark revelations of the [SU(3)]3 and [SU(3)]4 gauge extensions of the standard model

Two theoretically well-motivated gauge extensions of the standard model are SU(3)(C) x SU(3)(L) x SU(3)(R) and SU(3)(q) x SU(3)(L) x SU(3)(l) x SU(3)(R), where SU(3)(q) is the same as SU(3)(C) and SU(3)(l) is its color leptonic counterpart. Each has three variations, according to how SU(3)(R) is broken. It is shown here for the first time that a built-in dark U(1)(D) gauge symmetry exists in all six versions. However, the corresponding symmetry breaking pattern does not reduce properly to that of the standard model, unless an additional Z(2)' symmetry is defined, so that U(1)(D) x Z(2)' is broken to Z(2) dark parity. The available dark matter candidates in each case include fermions, scalars, as well as vector gauge bosons. This work points to the possible unity of matter with dark matter, the origin of which may not be ad hoc. (c) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.