Effective Theories with Dark Matter Applications

TL;DR

This paper reviews the effective field theory approach as a versatile framework for exploring new physics phenomena, especially dark matter interactions, beyond the Standard Model, with applications to high-energy physics and specific ultraviolet-complete models.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of EFT methods and discusses their application to dark matter physics and potential interactions with the Standard Model.

Findings

EFT offers a consistent framework for studying unknown new physics effects.

Application of EFT techniques to dark matter interactions with the Standard Model.

Discussion of specific ultraviolet-complete models realizing EFT effects.

Abstract

Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has achieved enormous success in describing the interactions among the known fundamental constituents of nature, yet it fails to describe phenomena for which there is very strong experimental evidence, such as the existence of dark matter, and which point to the existence of new physics not included in that model; beyond its existence, experimental data, however, have not provided clear indications as to the nature of that new physics. The effective field theory (EFT) approach, the subject of this review, is designed for this type of situations; it provides a consistent and unbiased framework within which to study new physics effects whose existence is expected but whose detailed nature is known very imperfectly. We will provide a description of this approach together with a discussion of some of its basic theoretical aspects. We then consider applications to high-energy phenomenology and conclude with a discussion of the application of EFT techniques to the study of dark matter physics and it possible interactions with the SM. In several of the applications we also briefly discuss specific models that are ultraviolet complete and may realize the effects described by the EFT.