Simplified Models vs. Effective Field Theory Approaches in Dark Matter Searches

TL;DR

This review compares simplified models and Effective Field Theory approaches in dark matter searches, highlighting their applications in collider, direct, and indirect detection, and aims to unify the language for future research.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive, self-contained comparison of EFTs and simplified models for dark matter searches, serving as an introductory and reference resource.

Findings

EFTs are useful for broad parameter space exploration.

Simplified models offer detailed phenomenological insights.

The paper proposes a unified framework for comparing search strategies.

Abstract

In this review we discuss and compare the usage of simplified models and Effective Field Theory (EFT) approaches in dark matter searches. We provide a state of the art description on the subject of EFTs and simplified models, especially in the context of collider searches for dark matter, but also with implications for direct and indirect detection searches, with the aim of constituting a common language for future comparisons between different strategies. The material is presented in a form that is as self-contained as possible, so that it may serve as an introductory review for the newcomer as well as a reference guide for the practitioner.