Yet Another Introduction to Dark Matter

Yet Another Introduction to Dark Matter

Author: Martin Bauer

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-11

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 3030162346

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Dark matter is a frequently discussed topic in contemporary particle physics. Written strictly in the language of particle physics and quantum field theory, these course-based lecture notes focus on a set of standard calculations that students need in order to understand weakly interacting dark matter candidates. After introducing some general features of these dark matter agents and their main competitors, the Higgs portal scalar and supersymmetric neutralinos are introduced as our default models. In turn, this serves as a basis for exploring four experimental aspects: the dark matter relic density extracted from the cosmic microwave background; indirect detection including the Fermi galactic center excess; direct detection; and collider searches. Alternative approaches, like an effective theory of dark matter and simplified models, naturally follow from the discussions of these four experimental directions.


Supersymmetric Dark Matter Candidates in Light of Constraints from Collider and Astroparticle Observables

Supersymmetric Dark Matter Candidates in Light of Constraints from Collider and Astroparticle Observables

Author: Jonathan Da Silva

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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The Standard Model of particle physics has been strengthened by the recent discovery of the long-awaited Higgs boson. The standard cosmological model has met the challenge of the high precision observations in comology and astroparticle physics. However these two standard models face both several theoretical issues, such as the naturalness problem in the Higgs sector of the Standard Model, as well as observational issues, in particular the fact that an unknown kind of matter called Dark Matter accounts for the majority of the matter content in our Universe. Attempts to solve such problems have led to the development of New Physics models during the last decades. Supersymmetry is one such model which addresses the fine-tuning problem in the Higgs sector and provides viable Dark Matter candidates. Current high energy and high precision experiments give many new opportunities to probe the supersymmetric models. It is in this context that this thesis is written. Considering the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), the simplest supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model of particle physics, and its conventional Dark Matter candidate, the neutralino, it is shown that collider constraints could provide informations on the very early Universe at the inflation area. It is also demonstrated that the Indirect Detection of Dark Matter, despite several drawbacks, can be a powerful technique to probe supersymmetric Dark Matter models. Beyond the MSSM it is shown that unique characteristics of the Dark Matter candidate in the NMSSM could be probed at colliders. The study of a supersymmetric model with an extended gauge symmetry, the UMSSM, is also developed. The features of another Dark Matter candidate of this model, the Right-Handed sneutrino, are analysed. More general constraints such as those coming from low energy observables are finally considered in this model.


Aspects of WIMP Dark Matter Searches at Colliders and Other Probes

Aspects of WIMP Dark Matter Searches at Colliders and Other Probes

Author: Enrico Morgante

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-10-05

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 3319676067

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This thesis covers several theoretical aspects of WIMP (weakly interacting massive particles) dark matter searches, with a particular emphasis on colliders. It mainly focuses on the use of effective field theories as a tool for Large Hadron Collider (LHC) searches, discussing in detail the issue of their validity, and on simplified dark matter models, which are receiving a growing attention from the physics community. It highlights the theoretical consistency of simplified models, which is essential in order to correctly exploit their potential and for them to be a common reference when comparing results from different experiments. This thesis is of interest to researchers (both theorists and experimentalists) in the field of dark matter searches, and offers a comprehensive introduction to dark matter and to WIMP searches for students and non-experts.


Particle Dark Matter

Particle Dark Matter

Author: Gianfranco Bertone

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010-01-07

Total Pages: 763

ISBN-13: 0521763681

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Describes the dark matter problem in particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology for graduate students and researchers.


Constraining Supersymmetric Models

Constraining Supersymmetric Models

Author: Lisa Zeune

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-10-22

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 3319222287

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This thesis analyses how supersymmetric (SUSY) extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics can be constrained using information from Higgs physics, electroweak precision observables and direct searches for new particles. Direct searches for SUSY particles at the LHC have not resulted in any signal so far, and limits on the SUSY parameter space have been set. Measurements of the properties of the observed Higgs boson at 125 GeV as well as of the W boson mass can provide valuable indirect constraints, supplementing the ones from direct searches. Precise calculations are performed for Higgs decays and electroweak precision observables within the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model and the next to-minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. Furthermore, a method is presented to reinterpret the LHC limits from direct SUSY searches in more realistic SUSY scenarios. The phenomenological consequences of those results are thoroughly analysed.


Higgs, Supersymmetry and Dark Matter After Run I of the LHC

Higgs, Supersymmetry and Dark Matter After Run I of the LHC

Author: Béranger Dumont

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-09-21

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 3319449567

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This work was nominated as an outstanding PhD thesis by the LPSC, Université Grenoble Alpes, France. The LHC Run 1 was a milestone in particle physics, leading to the discovery of the Higgs boson, the last missing piece of the so-called "Standard Model" (SM), and to important constraints on new physics, which challenge popular theories like weak-scale supersymmetry. This thesis provides a detailed account of the legacy of the LHC Run 1 ≤¥regarding these aspects. First, the SM and the need for its extension are presented in a concise yet revealing way. Subsequently, the impact of the LHC Higgs results on scenarios of new physics is assessed in detail, including a careful discussion of the relevant uncertainties. Two approaches are considered: generic modifications of the Higgs couplings, possibly arising from extended Higgs sectors or higher-dimensional operators; and tests of specific new physics models. Lastly, the implications of the null results of the searches for new physics are discussed with a particular focus on supersymmetric dark matter candidates. Here as well, two approaches are presented: the "simplified models" approach, and recasting by event simulation. This thesis stands out for its educational approach, its clear language and the depth of the physics discussion. The methods and tools presented offer readers essential practical tools for future research.


Heavy WIMP Effective Theory

Heavy WIMP Effective Theory

Author: Mikhail P. Solon

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-04-08

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 9783319797502

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This book is about dark matter’s particle nature and the implications of a new symmetry that appears when a hypothetical dark matter particle is heavy compared to known elementary particles. Dark matter exists and composes about 85% of the matter in the universe, but it cannot be explained in terms of the known elementary particles. Discovering dark matter's particle nature is one of the most pressing open problems in particle physics. This thesis derives the implications of a new symmetry that appears when the hypothetical dark matter particle is heavy compared to the known elementary particles, a situation which is well motivated by the null results of searches at the LHC and elsewhere. The new symmetry predicts a universal interaction between dark matter and ordinary matter, which in turn may be used to determine the event rate and detectable energy in dark matter direct detection experiments. The computation of heavy wino and higgsino dark matter presented in this work has become a benchmark for the field of direct detection. This thesis has also spawned a new field of investigation in dark matter indirect detection, determining heavy WIMP annihilation rates using effective field theory methods. It describes a new formalism for implementing Lorentz invariance constraints in nonrelativistic theories, with a surprising result at 1/M^4 order that contradicts the prevailing ansatz in the past 20 years of heavy quark literature. The author has also derived new perturbative QCD results to provide the definitive analysis of key Standard Model observables such as heavy quark scalar matrix elements of the nucleon. This is an influential thesis, with impacts in dark matter phenomenology, field theory formalism and precision hadronic physics.


Dark Matter in the Universe

Dark Matter in the Universe

Author: P. Galeotti

Publisher: Springer

Published: 1990-04-30

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13:

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Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Erice, Italy, May 4-14, 1988