Probing feebly interacting dark matter with monojet searches

Abstract

Dark matter may consist of feebly interacting massive particles (FIMPs) that never thermalized with the cosmic plasma. Their relic density is achieved via freeze-in for a wide range of masses, significantly expanding the model space that can be tested compared to other production mechanisms. However, testing the tiny couplings required by freeze-in is challenging. We show that FIMPs can be probed by LHC searches for new physics in mono-jet events with large missing energy. We study a $Z^{\prime }$ portal model in which gluon annihilation produces FIMPs in the early universe and today at colliders. Monojet searches by LHC Run 3 might discover new physics accounted for by FIMPs with mass in the MeV-TeV range.

Comments: 7 pages, 3 figures. v2: updated figures ensuring a nonthermal Z'; Matches the journal version