Search for strongly interacting massive particles generating trackless jets in proton-proton collisions at

Area of Science:

• Particle Physics
• Cosmology
• High-Energy Physics

Background:

• Dark matter constitutes a significant portion of the universe's mass.
• Strongly Interacting Massive Particles (SIMPs) are a theoretical dark matter candidate.
• The CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a key instrument for particle physics research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To search for evidence of SIMP dark matter production at the LHC.
• To constrain the parameter space of SIMP dark matter models.
• To develop and apply novel analysis techniques for dark matter searches.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing proton-proton collision data from the CMS detector, collected in 2016 with an integrated luminosity of 16.1 fb⁻¹.
• Searching for pairs of jets without tracks, a predicted signature of SIMP pair production.
• Employing the energy fraction of charged particles within jets as a primary discriminant against multijet background.
• Estimating remaining background processes directly from collision data.

Main Results:

• No significant excess of events beyond the expected background was observed.
• The search excluded SIMP dark matter models with masses up to 100 GeV.
• Sensitivity was extended to explore higher SIMP mass ranges.

Conclusions:

• The current data sets a limit on the existence of SIMP dark matter within the studied mass range.
• The analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of jet-based discriminators for background suppression in dark matter searches.
• Further exploration towards higher masses is warranted for more comprehensive SIMP searches.