Dark Matter characterization at the LHC in the Effective Field Theory approach

Understand

We have studied the complete set of dimension 5 and dimension 6 effective operators involving the interaction of scalar, fermion and vector Dark Matter (DM) with SM quarks and gluons, to explore the possibility to distinguish these operators and characterise the spin of DM at the LHC.

• We have found that three factors - the effective dimension of the operator, the structure of the SM part of the operator and the parton densities of the SM particles connected to the operator - uniquely define the shape of the (unobservable) invariant mass distribution of the DM pair and, consequently, the shape of the (observable) MET distribution related to it.
• Using $\chi^2$ analysis, we found that at the LHC, with a luminosity of 300 fb$^{-1}$, certain classes of EFT operators can be distinguished from each other.
• Hence, since DM spin is partly correlated with the factors defining the shape of MET, the LHC can potentially shed a light also on DM spin.