Supersymmetric dark matter after LHC run 1

Area of Science:

• Particle Physics
• Cosmology
• Astrophysics
• Supersymmetry (SUSY) Phenomenology

Background:

• The lightest neutralino, a potential dark matter (DM) particle, must satisfy relic density constraints within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM).
• Various mechanisms, including coannihilation, resonant annihilation, and focus-point enhancements, influence the neutralino's relic density across different MSSM parameter spaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how future Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and direct dark matter detection experiments can probe diverse DM mechanisms within specific MSSM scenarios.
• To investigate the complementary roles of collider and direct detection searches in exploring the parameter space of constrained models (CMSSM, NUHM1, NUHM2) and a more general scenario (pMSSM10).

Main Methods:

• Examination of different DM production mechanisms: coannihilation (e.g., with stau, stop, chargino), resonant annihilation (via Higgs bosons H/A, h, or Z boson), and focus-point region enhancement.
• Analysis of MSSM scenarios including CMSSM, NUHM1, NUHM2, and pMSSM10.
• Assessment of the reach of future LHC searches (e.g., for specific event signatures and long-lived particles) and direct DM detection experiments (e.g., LZ, Darwin).

Main Results:

• For CMSSM, NUHM1, and NUHM2, the LHC can largely probe [Formula: see text] coannihilation regions via specific event searches and long-lived charged particle detection.
• The H/A funnel, focus-point, and [Formula: see text] coannihilation regions in CMSSM, NUHM1, and NUHM2 are largely accessible to LZ and Darwin direct detection experiments.
• In the pMSSM10 scenario, [Formula: see text] coannihilation is the dominant DM mechanism, with parts of its parameter space accessible to the LHC and a larger portion to future direct DM searches.

Conclusions:

• Future LHC and direct DM detection experiments offer complementary probes of various dark matter mechanisms within different MSSM frameworks.
• The combined power of collider and direct detection searches is crucial for a comprehensive exploration of the supersymmetric parameter space and its implications for dark matter.
• Specific experimental strategies, like searching for [Formula: see text] events at the LHC or utilizing direct detection experiments like LZ and Darwin, are vital for testing distinct DM scenarios.