No Arabic abstract
We investigate the current status of the light neutralino dark matter scenario within the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) taking into account latest results from the LHC. A discussion of the relevant constraints, in particular from the dark matter relic abundance, leads us to a manageable simplified model defined by a subset of MSSM parameters. Within this simplified model we reinterpret a recent search for electroweak supersymmetric particle production based on a signature including multi-taus plus missing transverse momentum performed by the ATLAS collaboration. In this way we derive stringent constraints on the light neutralino parameter space. In combination with further experimental information from the LHC, such as dark matter searches in the monojet channel and constraints on invisible Higgs decays, we obtain a lower bound on the lightest neutralino mass of about 24 GeV. This limit is stronger than any current limit set by underground direct dark matter searches or indirect detection experiments. With a mild improvement of the sensitivity of the multi-tau search, light neutralino dark matter can be fully tested up to about 30 GeV.
Under the hypothesis that the MSSM neutralino accounts for the observed dark matter density, we investigate how light this particle is still allowed to be after the latest LHC data. In particular, we discuss the impact of searches for events with multiple taus and missing transverse momentum, which are a generic prediction of the light neutralino scenario.
It was shown in a previous study that a lightest neutralino with mass below 30 GeV was severely constrained in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), unless it annihilates via a light stau and thus yields the observed dark matter abundance. In such a scenario, while the stau is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP), the charginos and the other neutralinos as well as sleptons of the first two families are also likely to be not too far above the mass bounds laid down by the Large Electron Positron (LEP) collider. As the branching ratios of decays of the charginos and the next-to-lightest neutralino into staus are rather large, one expects significant rates of tau-rich final states in such a case. With this in view, we investigate the same-sign ditau and tri-tau signals of this scenario at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) for two MSSM benchmark points corresponding to light neutralino dark matter. The associated signal rates for these channels are computed, for the centre-of-mass energy of 14 TeV. We find that both channels lead to appreciable rates if the squarks and the gluino are not too far above a TeV, thus allowing to probe scenarios with light neutralinos in the 14 TeV LHC run with 10-100 fb^{-1}.
Light neutralino dark matter can be achieved in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model if staus are rather light, with mass around 100 GeV. We perform a detailed analysis of the relevant supersymmetric parameter space, including also the possibility of light selectons and smuons, and of light higgsino- or wino-like charginos. In addition to the latest limits from direct and indirect detection of dark matter, ATLAS and CMS constraints on electroweak-inos and on sleptons are taken into account using a simplified models framework. Measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson at 125 GeV, which constrain amongst others the invisible decay of the Higgs boson into a pair of neutralinos, are also implemented in the analysis. We show that viable neutralino dark matter can be achieved for masses as low as 15 GeV. In this case, light charginos close to the LEP bound are required in addition to light right-chiral staus. Significant deviations are observed in the couplings of the 125 GeV Higgs boson. These constitute a promising way to probe the light neutralino dark matter scenario in the next run of the LHC.
In spite of rapid experimental progress, windows for light superparticles remain. One possibility is a ~100 GeV tau slepton whose t-channel exchange can give the correct thermal relic abundance for a relatively light neutralino. We pedagogically review how this region arises and identify two distinct scenarios that will be tested soon on multiple fronts. In the first, the neutralino has a significant down-type higgsino fraction and relatively large rates at direct detection experiments are expected. In the second, there is large mixing between two relatively light staus, which could lead to a significant excess in the Higgs boson branching ratio to photons. In addition, electroweak superpartners are sufficiently light that direct searches should be effective.
We derive the latest constraints on various simplified models of natural SUSY with light higgsinos, stops and gluinos, using a detailed and comprehensive reinterpretation of the most recent 13 TeV ATLAS and CMS searches with $sim 15$ fb$^{-1}$ of data. We discuss the implications of these constraints for fine-tuning of the electroweak scale. While the most vanilla version of SUSY (the MSSM with $R$-parity and flavor-degenerate sfermions) with 10% fine-tuning is ruled out by the current constraints, models with decoupled valence squarks or reduced missing energy can still be fully natural. However, in all of these models, the mediation scale must be extremely low ($<100$ TeV). We conclude by considering the prospects for the high-luminosity LHC era, where we expect the current limits on particle masses to improve by up to $sim 1$ TeV, and discuss further model-building directions for natural SUSY that are motivated by this work.