Moving Beyond Effective Field Theory in Dark Matter Searches at Colliders

TL;DR

This paper discusses the limitations of the effective field theory approach in collider dark matter searches and explores new methods for interpreting collider data more accurately.

Contribution

It highlights the shortcomings of EFT in DM collider searches and proposes alternative interpretation strategies to improve accuracy.

Findings

EFT can significantly misestimate collider search reach.

New interpretation methods address EFT limitations.

Enhanced understanding of collider signatures for DM.

Abstract

In the past few years, the interest to collider searches for direct dark matter (DM) production has been growing exponentially. A variety of "Mono-X" signatures have been considered, where X stands for a probe particle recoiling against DM particles, which allows for the event to be triggerable. So far, the analysis of these signatures has been largely carried out in the framework of effective field theory (EFT), which allows for a comparison of the collider searches with searches in direct detection experiments. Unfortunately, as it has been recently pointed out by a number of authors, the EFT approach has severe limitations and may result in drastically underestimated or overestimated reach. I'll discuss these limitations and the new ideas in interpreting the collider searches for DM.