Probing dark matter at the LHC using vector boson fusion processes.

Vector boson fusion processes at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) provide a unique opportunity to search for new physics with electroweak couplings. A feasibility study for the search of supersymmetric dark matter in the final state of two vector boson fusion jets and large missing transverse energy is presented at 14 TeV. Prospects for determining the dark matter relic density are studied for the cases of wino and bino-Higgsino dark matter. The LHC could probe wino dark matter with mass up to approximately 600 GeV with a luminosity of 1000 fb(-1).

Determining the dark matter relic density in the minimal supergravity stau-neutralino coannihilation region at the Large Hadron Collider.

We examine the stau-neutralino coannihilation (CA) mechanism of the early Universe. We use the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) model and show that from measurements at the CERN Large Hadron Collider one can predict the dark matter relic density with an uncertainty of 6% with 30 fb(-1) of data, which is comparable to the direct measurement by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. This is done by measuring four mSUGRA parameters m(0), m(1/2), A(0), and tanbeta without requiring direct measurements of the top squark and bottom squark masses. We also provide precision measurements of the gaugino, squark, and lighter stau masses in this CA region without assuming gaugino universality.