Whac-a-constraint with anomaly-free dark matter models

TL;DR

This paper explores anomaly-free dark matter models with leptophobic mediators, revealing richer phenomenology and enhanced collider search sensitivities compared to minimal models constrained by experiments.

Contribution

It introduces anomaly-free fermionic dark matter models with enlarged field content, showing their distinct phenomenology and improved collider detection prospects.

Findings

Anomaly cancellation requires additional fields, enriching model phenomenology.

Collider searches for neutralinos and charginos can outperform monojet searches.

Models remain viable in parameter spaces where traditional searches are less effective.

Abstract

Theories where a fermionic dark matter candidate interacts with the Standard Model through a vector mediator are often studied using minimal models, which are not necessarily anomaly-free. In fact, minimal anomaly-free simplified models are usually strongly constrained by either direct detection experiments or collider searches for dilepton resonances. In this paper, we study the phenomenology of models with a fermionic dark matter candidate that couples axially to a leptophobic vector mediator. Canceling anomalies in these models requires considerably enlarging their field content. For an example minimal scenario we show that the additional fields lead to a potentially much richer phenomenology than the one predicted by the original simplified model. In particular collider searches for pair-produced neutralinos and charginos can be more sensitive than traditional monojet searches in thermally motivated parts of the parameter space where the mediator is outside the reach of current searches.