Integrating in the Higgs Portal to Fermion Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper explores collider-based methods to detect fermion dark matter interacting via the Higgs portal, emphasizing the importance of future high-energy experiments for comprehensive testing.

Contribution

It analyzes collider signatures of mediator particles in Higgs portal fermion dark matter models using three minimal renormalizable frameworks.

Findings

LHC can probe DM lighter than 200 GeV in high-luminosity phase.

Future colliders are essential for testing heavier DM scenarios.

Complementary role of collider searches and direct detection experiments.

Abstract

Fermion dark matter (DM) interacting with the standard model through a Higgs portal requires non-renormalizable operators, signaling the presence of new mediator states at the electroweak scale. Collider signatures that involve the mediators are a powerful tool to experimentally probe the Higgs portal interactions, providing complementary information to strong constraints set by direct DM detection searches. Indirect detection experiments are less sensitive to this scenario. We investigate the collider reach for the mediators using three minimal renormalizable models as examples, and requiring the fermion DM to be a thermal relic. The Large Hadron Collider in its high-energy, high-luminosity phase can probe most scenarios if DM is lighter than about 200 GeV. Beyond this scale, future high-energy experiments such as an electron-positron collider or a 100-TeV proton-proton collider, combined with future direct detection experiments, are indispensable to conclusively test these models.