Future Dark Matter searches and the Neutrino Background

by M. Fairbairn (Kings)

Thursday 23 Oct 2014, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/Berlin

Physikdepartment (HS3)

I will describe very simple models of dark matter and show how even with reasonable masses, effects such as resonances can lead to very small cross sections at direct detection experiments. I will then briefly discuss the usefulness in slightly more complicated simplified models than the effective operator approach. I will then present some work constraining such models using dijet studies at the LHC and indirect detection and show how direct detection cross sections can be very small in such scenarios, even with good relic abundance. Small cross sections run the risk of being potentially undetectable due to the neutrino background, even with very large future direct detection experiments. I will spend the rest of my talk explaining future strategies for getting the dark matter signal out of the neutrino background.