On the exclusion limits in $t\bar{t}+$DM searches at the LHC

Abstract

In these proceedings we discuss the importance of higher-order corrections and off-shell effects for the calculation of signal strength exclusion limits in $t\bar{t}+$DM searches at the Large Hadron Collider. We present limits for the spin-0 s-channel mediator model using state-of-the-art NLO QCD predictions with full off-shell effects for the relevant $t\bar{t}$ and $t\bar{t}Z$ background processes. These are then compared to less sophisticated predictions using either the narrow-width approximation or LO calculations in order to asses the respective effects.

Comments: 4 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, YSF Talk at the 14th International Workshop on Top Quark Physics (videoconference), 13-17 September 2021