Aspects of WIMP dark matter searches at colliders and other probes : doctoral thesis accepted by the University of Geneva, Switzerland

This thesis covers several theoretical aspects of WIMP (weakly interacting massive particles) dark matter searches, with a particular emphasis on colliders. It mainly focuses on the use of effective field theories as a tool for Large Hadron Collider (LHC) searches, discussing in detail the issue of their validity, and on simplified dark matter models, which are receiving a growing attention from the physics community. It highlights the theoretical consistency of simplified models, which is essential in order to correctly exploit their potential and for them to be a common reference when comparing results from different experiments. This thesis is of interest to researchers (both theorists and experimentalists) in the field of dark matter searches, and offers a comprehensive introduction to dark matter and to WIMP searches for students and non-experts. Front Matter ....Pages i-xx Introduction to Dark Matter (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 1-26 Front Matter ....Pages 27-27 Direct Detection of WIMPs (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 29-41 Indirect Detection (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 43-68 Focus on AMS-02 Anti-protons Results (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 69-82 Front Matter ....Pages 83-83 Dark Matter Searches at the LHC (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 85-96 The EFT Approach and Its Validity (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 97-123 Simplified Models (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 125-141 The Relic Density Constraint (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 143-153 A U(1)’ Gauge Mediator (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 155-179 Conclusions (Enrico Morgante)....Pages 181-184 Back Matter ....Pages 185-212