Probing conversion-driven freeze-out at the LHC

Physical review. D/Physical review. D., vol. 110

Abstract

Conversion-driven freeze-out is an appealing mechanism to explain the observed relic density while naturally accommodating the null results from direct and indirect detection due to a very weak dark matter coupling. Interestingly, the scenario predicts long-lived particles decaying into dark matter with lifetimes favorably coinciding with the range that can be resolved at the LHC. However, the small mass splitting between the long-lived particle and dark matter renders the visible decay products soft, thus challenging current search strategies. We consider four different classes of searches covering the entire range of lifetimes: heavy stable charge particles, disappearing tracks, displaced vertices, and missing energy searches. We discuss the applicability of these searches to conversion-driven freeze-out and derive current constraints highlighting their complementarity. For the displaced vertex search, we demonstrate how a slight modification of the current analysis significantly improves its sensitivity to the scenario. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Authors 3

1. Jan Heisig Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University · University of Virginia

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University

   University of Virginia

2. André Lessa

   Universidade Federal do ABC

   Affiliation as printed

   Universidade Federal do ABC

3. Lucas Magno Dantas Ramos

   Universidade de São Paulo

   Affiliation as printed

   Universidade de São Paulo