Minimal model for dark matter and unification

Gauge coupling unification and the success of TeV-scale weakly-interacting dark matter are usually taken as evidence of low-energy supersymmetry (SUSY). However, if we assume that the tuning of the Higgs can be explained in some unnatural way, from environmental considerations for example, SUSY is no longer a necessary component of any beyond the standard model theory. In this paper we study the minimal model with a dark matter candidate and gauge coupling unification. This consists of the standard model plus fermions with the quantum numbers of SUSY Higgsinos, and a singlet. It predicts thermal dark matter with a mass that can range from 100 GeV to around 2 TeV and generically gives rise to an electric dipole moment (EDM) that is just beyond current experimental limits, with a large portion of its allowed parameter space accessible to next-generation EDM and direct detection experiments. We study precision unification in this model by embedding it in a 5D orbifold GUT where certain large threshold corrections are calculable, achieving gauge coupling and $b–\tau$ unification, and predicting a rate of proton decay just beyond current limits.