Inelastic Dark Matter at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper investigates inelastic dark matter detection at the LHC, focusing on parameter regions with large mass splittings where direct detection is ineffective, and identifies key experimental signatures for testing at 7 TeV.

Contribution

It provides a model-independent analysis of inelastic dark matter signatures at the LHC, emphasizing the potential for discovery in previously unexplored parameter space.

Findings

Displaced pions and monojet signatures are key indicators.

LHC at 7 TeV can test these inelastic dark matter scenarios.

Parameter space with large mass splitting is challenging for direct detection.

Abstract

We perform a model-independent study of inelastic dark matter at the LHC, concentrating on the parameter space with the mass splitting between the excited and ground states of dark matter above a few hundred MeV, where the direct detection experiments are unlikely to explore. The generic signatures of inelastic dark matter at the LHC are displaced pions together with a monojet plus missing energy, and can be tested at the 7 TeV LHC.