Dilepton Signals in the Inert Doublet Model

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential for detecting new particles predicted by the Inert Doublet Model at the LHC through dilepton signals, identifying promising parameter regions for discovery.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of LHC detection prospects for the Inert Doublet Model's additional scalars across various benchmark scenarios.

Findings

Significant signals (3-12 sigma) possible with 100 fb^-1 for certain mass ranges.

Detection feasible for dark matter candidate masses around 40 GeV.

Larger mass splittings still allow for signals above 3 sigma.

Abstract

The Inert Doublet Model is one of the simplest and most versatile scenarios for physics beyond the Standard Model. In this work, we examine the prospects for detecting the additional fields of this model at the LHC in the dilepton channel. We investigate a wide variety of theoretically- and phenomenologically-motivated benchmark scenarios, and show that within regions of model parameter space in which the dark-matter candidate is relatively light (between 40 and 80 GeV) and the mass splitting between the neutral scalars is also roughly 40 - 80 GeV, a signal at the 3 sigma to 12 sigma significance level can be observed with 100 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity. In addition, even if the mass splitting between the neutral scalars is larger than M_Z, a signal of more than 3 sigma can be observed as long as the mass of the dark matter candidate is around 40 GeV.