Oct 2016 - Sep 2017

Dark matter searches @LHC: Making a case for the pseudoscalar portal

by José Miguel No (Kings College)

Europe/London
Description
The Higgs sector is a well-motivated portal to dark matter (DM). I discuss scalar/pseudoscalar portal models for DM, as a powerful tool to exploit the complementarity between LHC searches and direct/indirect DM detection experiments, and their connection to Higgs physics. I then analyze the shortcomings of so-called "simplified DM models" in this context, highlighting the key physics these models fail to capture and its impact on LHC searches. Finally, I will discuss the connection with dark matter interpretations of the FERMI galactic center excess, and present a novel LHC search which would serve as a powerful probe of the most prominent scenario in this context.