LHC constraints on gauge boson couplings to dark matter

TL;DR

This paper updates LHC constraints on effective operators connecting dark matter to electroweak gauge bosons, comparing various search channels and exploring future collider potential for improved bounds.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison of collider search sensitivities for dark matter interactions via dimension-7 operators involving electroweak gauge bosons.

Findings

Mono-photon and mono-jet channels currently provide the strongest bounds.

Potential improvements at 14 TeV are analyzed.

Strategies for disentangling effects of different operators are discussed.

Abstract

Collider searches for energetic particles recoiling against missing transverse energy allow to place strong bounds on the interactions between dark matter (DM) and standard model particles. In this article we update and extend LHC constraints on effective dimension-7 operators involving DM and electroweak gauge bosons. A concise comparison of the sensitivity of the mono-photon, mono-W, mono-Z, mono-W/Z, invisible Higgs-boson decays in the vector boson fusion mode and the mono-jet channel is presented. Depending on the parameter choices, either the mono-photon or the mono-jet data provide the most stringent bounds at the moment. We furthermore explore the potential of improving the current 8 TeV limits at 14 TeV. Future strategies capable of disentangling the effects of the different effective operators involving electroweak gauge bosons are discussed as well.