A search for dark matter in events with one jet and missing transverse energy in pp-bar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for dark matter in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV, using monojet events with missing energy, setting competitive bounds on dark matter interactions with nucleons.

Contribution

First search for dark matter in monojet events at Tevatron, providing new bounds on dark matter-nucleon interactions.

Findings

No excess observed over standard model predictions.

Set 90% CL upper limits on dark matter production rates.

Bounds are competitive with direct detection experiments.

Abstract

We present the results of a search for dark matter production in the monojet signature. We analyze a sample of Tevatron pp-bar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6.7/fb recorded by the CDF II detector. In events with large missing transverse energy and one energetic jet, we find good agreement between the standard model prediction and the observed data. We set 90% confidence level upper limits on the dark matter production rate. The limits are translated into bounds on nucleon-dark matter scattering rates which are competitive with current direct detection bounds on spin-independent interaction below a dark matter candidate mass of 5 GeV/c^2, and on spin-dependent interactions up to masses of 200 GeV/c^2.