LHC Bounds on Interactions of Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper uses LHC data to set new, more stringent limits on dark matter interactions with quarks, challenging some models that try to reconcile direct detection signals.

Contribution

It provides the first LHC-based limits on dark matter-quark interactions within a model-independent effective theory framework, extending previous bounds from the Tevatron.

Findings

LHC limits significantly improve previous bounds from CDF.

Constraints are especially strong for GeV-scale WIMPs.

Results challenge isospin-violating models that reconcile CoGeNT and Xenon-100 data.

Abstract

We derive limits on the interactions of dark matter with quarks from ATLAS null searches for jets + missing energy based on ~1 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity, using a model-insensitive effective theory framework. We find that the new limits from the LHC significantly extend limits previously derived from CDF data at the Tevatron. Translated into the parameter space of direct searches, these limits are particularly effective for ~GeV mass WIMPs. Our limits indicate tension with isospin violating models satisfying minimal flavor violation which attempt to reconcile the purported CoGeNT excess with Xenon-100, indicating that either a light mediator or nontrivial flavor structure for the dark sector is necessary for a viable reconciliation of CoGeNT with Xenon.