Theoretical expectations for dark matter detection at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper reviews theoretical expectations for detecting supersymmetric dark matter at the LHC, discusses models like PQMSSM, and compares detection prospects with direct detection experiments, highlighting the viability of alternative dark matter candidates.

Contribution

It provides a unified theoretical framework linking dark matter signals at different detection experiments and explores the implications of various SUSY models for LHC searches.

Findings

LHC can detect SUSY particles up to 1 TeV gluino mass with 7 TeV energy and 1 fb^{-1} luminosity.

Models with well-tempered neutralinos will be tested by Xenon-100/LUX and show distinctive LHC signatures.

Neutralino dark matter is increasingly disfavored, while axion/axino models remain viable and consistent with cosmological constraints.

Abstract

I present an overview of theoretical expectations for detection of dark matter (DM) at the LHC, concentrating entirely on supersymmetric candidates. En route, I present a unified theory which explains dark matter signals at indirect and direct detection experiments. While direct DM detection is likely impossible at LHC, detection of SUSY matter states is robust, where LHC with \sqrt{s}=7 TeV and 1fb^{-1} can access m(gluino) 1 TeV for m(squark) m(gluino), and m(gluino) 640 GeV for m(squark)>> m(gluino). Models with well-tempered neutralinos will soon be tested by Xenon-100/LUX, and should provide a distinctive mass edge at LHC in the m(l+l-) distribution. In the case of SUSY, neutralino dark matter now seems highly disfavored by both the magnitude of the dark matter density, and also the gravitino problem. Alternatively, the PQMSSM yields a solution to the strong CP problem, provides all the benefits of SUSY, and solves several cosmological problems. Predictions for SUSY particles at the LHC from the PQMSSM are quite different from the case of neutralino dark matter. Compelling models such as Yukawa-unifed SUSY or Effective SUSY, which would be excluded with neutralino DM, are perfectly viable with mixed axion/axino DM.