On the Validity of Dark Matter Effective Theory

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the reliability of dark matter effective theories by comparing their predictions with simple models, highlighting challenges in interpreting global dark matter analyses.

Contribution

It systematically assesses the validity of effective theories in describing dark matter interactions and their connection to LHC signatures.

Findings

Effective theories often fail to accurately represent simple dark matter models.

Global fits using effective Lagrangians can be misleading without careful interpretation.

The study emphasizes the complexity of linking effective theories to underlying models.

Abstract

An effective theory of dark matter offers an attractive framework for global analyses of dark matter. In the light of global fits we test the validity of the link between the non-relativistic dark matter annihilation, or the predicted relic density, and LHC signatures. Specifically, we study how well the effective theory describes the main features of simple models with s-channel and t-channel mediators coupling to the Standard Model at tree level or through one-loop diagrams. Our results indicate that global dark matter analyses in terms of effective Lagrangians are highly non-trivial to interpret in term of actual models.