Taking a Razor to Dark Matter Parameter Space at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper adapts the CMS razor analysis to search for dark matter in multi-jet events at the LHC, providing new bounds on simplified models with various mediators, enhancing collider search strategies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of the razor analysis to dark matter searches, extending the scope beyond monojet methods and considering multiple mediator scenarios.

Findings

New bounds on dark matter models from multi-jet razor analysis

Complementary constraints to monojet searches at the LHC

Enhanced sensitivity to certain mediator types

Abstract

Dark matter (DM) has been searched for at colliders in a largely model independent fashion by looking for an excess number of events involving a single jet, or photon, and missing energy. We investigate the possibility of looking for excesses in more inclusive jet channels. Events with multiple jets contain more information and thus more handles to increase the signal to background ratio. In particular, we adapt the recent CMS "razor" analysis from a search for supersymmetry to a search for DM. We consider simplified models where DM is a Dirac fermion that couples to the quarks of the Standard Model (SM) through exchange of vector or axial-vector mediators or to gluons through scalar exchange. We consider both light and heavy (leading to effective contact interactions) mediators. Since the razor analysis requires multiple jets in the final state, the data set is complementary to that used for the monojet search and thus the bounds can be combined.