The Dark Side of Electroweak Naturalness Beyond the MSSM

Weak scale supersymmetry (SUSY) remains a prime explanation for the radiative stability of the Higgs field. A natural account of the Higgs boson mass, however, strongly favors extensions of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). A plausible option is to introduce a new supersymmetric sector coupled to the MSSM Higgs fields, whose associated states resolve the little hierarchy problem between the third generation squark masses and the weak scale. SUSY also accomodates a weakly interacting cold dark matter (DM) candidate in the form of a stable neutralino. In minimal realizations, the thus-far null results of direct DM searches, along with the DM relic abundance constraint, introduce a level of fine-tuning as severe as the one due to the SUSY little hierarchy problem. We analyse the generic implications of new SUSY sectors parametrically heavier than the minimal SUSY spectrum, devised to increase the Higgs boson mass, on this little neutralino DM problem. We focus on the SUSY operator of smallest scaling dimension in an effective field theory description, which modifies the Higgs and DM sectors in a correlated manner. Within this framework, we show that recent null results from the LUX experiment imply a tree-level fine-tuning for gaugino DM which is parametrically at least a few times larger than that of the MSSM. Higgsino DM whose relic abundance is generated through a thermal freeze-out mechanism remains also severely fine-tuned, unless the DM lies below the weak boson pair-production threshold. As in the MSSM, well-tempered gaugino-Higgsino DM is strongly disfavored by present direct detection results.Comment: 41 pages, 8 figures, references adde

Revisiting light neutralino scenarios in the MSSM

We revisit the case of a light neutralino LSP in the framework of the MSSM. We consider a model with eleven free parameters. We show that all scenarios where the annihilation of light neutralinos rely mainly on the exchange of a light pseudoscalar are excluded by direct detection searches and by Fermi measurements of the gamma-flux from dwarf spheroidal galaxies. On the other hand, we find scenarios with light sleptons that satisfy all collider and astroparticle physics constraints. In this case, the lower limit on the LSP mass is 12.6 GeV. We discuss how the parameter space of the model will be further probed by new physics searches at the LHC.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Tools for Dark Matter in Particle and Astroparticle Physics

Despite several indirect confirmations of the existence of dark matter, the properties of a new dark matter particle are still largely unknown. Several experiments are currently searching for this particle underground in direct detection, in space and on earth in indirect detection and at the LHC. A confirmed signal could select a model for dark matter among the many extensions of the standard model. In this paper we present a short review of the public codes for computation of dark matter observables.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of 13th International Workshop on Advanced Computing and Analysis Techniques in Physics Research, February 2010, Jaipur, Indi

Light stop in the MSSM after LHC Run 1

The discovery of a Higgs boson with a mass of 126 GeV at the LHC when combined with the non-observation of new physics both in direct and indirect searches imposes strong constraints on supersymmetric models and in particular on the top squark sector. The experiments for direct detection of dark matter have provided with yet more constraints on the neutralino LSP mass and its interactions. After imposing limits from the Higgs, flavour and dark matter sectors, we examine the feasibility for a light stop in the context of the pMSSM, in light of current results for stop and other SUSY searches at the LHC. We only require that the neutralino dark matter explains a fraction of the cosmologically measured dark matter abundance. We find that a stop with mass below $\sim$ 500 GeV is still allowed. We further study various probes of the light stop scenario that could be performed at the LHC Run - II either through direct searches for the light and heavy stop, or SUSY searches not currently available in simplified model results. Moreover we study the characteristics of heavy Higgs for the points in the parameter space allowed by all the available constraints and illustrate the region with large cross sections to fermionic or electroweakino channels. Finally we show that nearly all scenarios with a small stop$-$LSP mass difference will be tested by Xenon1T provided the NLSP is a chargino, thus probing a region hard to access at the LHC.Comment: 54 pages, minor changes in the text, to appear in JHE

Mixed sneutrino dark matter in light of the 2011 XENON and LHC results

In the context of supersymmetric models in which small Dirac neutrino masses are generated by supersymmetry breaking, a mainly right-handed (RH) mixed sneutrino can be an excellent cold dark matter (DM) candidate. We perform a global analysis of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM)+RH neutrino parameter space by means of Markov Chain Monte Carlo scans. We include all relevant constraints from collider and dark matter searches, paying particular attention to nuclear and astrophysical uncertainties. Two distinct cases can satisfy all constraints: heavy sneutrino DM with mass of order 100 GeV, as well as light sneutrino DM with mass of about 3-6 GeV. We discuss the implications for direct and indirect dark matter searches, as well as for SUSY and Higgs searches at the LHC for both, the light and the heavy sneutrino dark matter case. The light sneutrino case is excluded by the 125-126 GeV Higgs signal.Comment: 38 pages, 13 figures; v3: appendix added, minor corrections, note added on the 2012 XENON100 results; matches version accepted by JCA

Probing the flavor violating scalar top quark signal at the LHC

The Large Hadron Collider(LHC) has completed its run at 8 TeV with the experiments ATLAS and CMS having collected about 25 $\rm fb^{-1}$ of data each. Discovery of a light Higgs boson, coupled with lack of evidence for supersymmetry at the LHC so far, has motivated studies of supersymmetry in the context of naturalness with the principal focus being the third generation squarks. In this work, we analyze the prospects of the flavor violating decay mode $\rm \tilde{t}_1\to c\chi_{1}^{0}$ at 8 and 13 TeV center of mass energy at the LHC. This channel is also relevant in the dark matter context for the stop-coannihilation scenario, where the relic density depends on the mass difference between the lighter stop quark ($\tilde{t}_1$) and the lightest neutralino($\chi_{1}^{0}$) states. This channel is extremely challenging to probe, specially for situations when the mass difference between the lighter stop quark and the lightest neutralino is small. Using certain kinematical properties of signal events we find that the level of backgrounds can be reduced substantially. We find that the prospect for this channel is limited due to the low production cross section for top squarks and limited luminosity at 8 TeV, but at the 13 TeV LHC with 100 $fb^{-1}$ luminosity, it is possible to probe top squarks with masses up to $\sim$ 450 GeV. We also discuss how the sensitivity could be significantly improved by tagging charm jets.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables. Version accepted for publication in Physical Rev. D. Some changes in presentation of figures and text made. Result remains unchange

Co-scattering in micrOMEGAs: a case study for the singlet-triplet dark matter model

In scenarios with very small dark matter (DM) couplings and small mass splittings between the DM and other dark sector particles, so-called "co-scattering" or "conversion-driven freeze-out" can be the dominant mechanism for DM production. We present the inclusion of this mechanism in micrOMEGAs together with a case study of the phenomenological implications in the fermionic singlet-triplet model. For the latter, we focus on the transition between co-annihilation and co-scattering processes. We observe that co-scattering is needed to describe the thermal behaviour of the DM for very small couplings, opening up a new region in the parameter space of the model. The triplet states are often long-lived in this region; we therefore also discuss LHC constraints from long-lived signatures obtained with SModelS.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures; typos correcte

LHC constraints on light neutralino dark matter in the MSSM

Light neutralino dark matter can be achieved in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model if staus are rather light, with mass around 100 GeV. We perform a detailed analysis of the relevant supersymmetric parameter space, including also the possibility of light selectons and smuons, and of light higgsino- or wino-like charginos. In addition to the latest limits from direct and indirect detection of dark matter, ATLAS and CMS constraints on electroweak-inos and on sleptons are taken into account using a "simplified models" framework. Measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson at 125 GeV, which constrain amongst others the invisible decay of the Higgs boson into a pair of neutralinos, are also implemented in the analysis. We show that viable neutralino dark matter can be achieved for masses as low as 15 GeV. In this case, light charginos close to the LEP bound are required in addition to light right-chiral staus. Significant deviations are observed in the couplings of the 125 GeV Higgs boson. These constitute a promising way to probe the light neutralino dark matter scenario in the next run of the LHC.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures; matches version accepted for publication in Physics Letters