Robust direct and indirect bounds on simplified models of thermal dark matter

Aaron Vincent

IPPP, Durham (UK)

 

Given established evidence for its existence from astrophysical observations, the particle nature of dark matter (DM) has become a prime focus of searches for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in the major LHC collider experiments. While studies at colliders have always been essential for the field, the current shift away from specific model-testing (e.g. neutralino or Kaluza-Klein DM) towards broader searches of new invisible particles means that wider classes of DM can be probed, with an emphasis on complementary constraints from astrophysics rather than the traditional top-down arguments. Assuming that the DM is a singlet with a spin 0, 1/2 or 1, coupled to ordinary fermions through a single mediator, one finds 16 DM scenarios that can be studied using simplified frameworks. Here I will provide a roadmap to establishing bounds from direct, indirect and relic density constraints on simplified models of thermally-produced dark matter, which may be used to constrain collider searches for new physics. For most simplified models, the unconstrained parameter space can be bounded from above and below in DM mass, mediator mass and coupling strength, with some cases being ruled out entirely as thermal relics.