Search For Dark Matter And Unparticles Produced In Association With A Z Boson In Proton Proton Collisions At S

A search for evidence of particle dark matter (DM) and unparticle production at the LHC has been performed using events containing two charged leptons, consistent with the decay of a Z boson, and large missing transverse momentum. This study is based on data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns of pp collisions at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. No significant excess of events is observed above the number expected from the standard model contributions. The results are interpreted in terms of 90% confidence level limits on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section, as a function of the DM particle mass, for both spin-dependent and spin-independent scenarios. Limits are set on the effective cutoff scale Lambda, and on the annihilation rate for DM particles, assuming that their branching fraction to quarks is 100%. Additionally, the most stringent 95% confidence level limits to date on the unparticle model parameters are obtained.

A search for dark matter and unparticle production at the LHC has been performed using events containing two charged leptons (electrons or muons), consistent with the decay of a Z boson, and large missing transverse momentum. This study is based on data collected with the CMS detector in 2015, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions at the LHC, at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No excess over the standard model expectation is observed. Compared to previous searches in this topology, which exclusively relied on effective field theories, the results are interpreted in terms of a simplified model of dark matter production for both vector and axial vector couplings between a mediator and dark matter particles. The first study of this class of models using CMS data at sqrt(s)=13 TeV is presented. Additionally, effective field theories of dark matter and unparticle production are used to interpret the data.

This thesis reports on the search for dark matter in data taken with the ATLAS detector at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The identification of dark matter and the determination of its properties are among the highest priorities in elementary particle physics and cosmology. The most likely candidate, a weakly interacting massive particle, could be produced in the high energy proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The analysis presented here is unique in looking for dark matter produced together with a Higgs boson that decays into its dominant decay mode, a pair of b quarks. If dark matter were seen in this mode, we would learn directly about the production mechanism because of the presence of the Higgs boson. This thesis develops the search technique and presents the most stringent production limit to date.

This book introduces the reader to the field of jet substructure, starting from the basic considerations for capturing decays of boosted particles in individual jets, to explaining state-of-the-art techniques. Jet substructure methods have become ubiquitous in data analyses at the LHC, with diverse applications stemming from the abundance of jets in proton-proton collisions, the presence of pileup and multiple interactions, and the need to reconstruct and identify decays of highly-Lorentz boosted particles. The last decade has seen a vast increase in our knowledge of all aspects of the field, with a proliferation of new jet substructure algorithms, calculations and measurements which are presented in this book. Recent developments and algorithms are described and put into the larger experimental context. Their usefulness and application are shown in many demonstrative examples and the phenomenological and experimental effects influencing their performance are discussed. A comprehensive overview is given of measurements and searches for new phenomena performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations. This book shows the impressive versatility of jet substructure methods at the LHC.

This thesis presents the results of a search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, running with 13 TeV center of mass energy, using data gathered by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS). The search targets TeV mass-scale dark matter candidates and uses final states with two opposite-charge and same-flavor light leptons (electrons or muons) having dilepton mass consistent with the Z boson, at least 2 hadronic jets, and at least 100 GeV of transverse momentum imbalance. The thesis contains a historical introduction to particle physics, brief reviews of the standard model and supersymmetry, an in-depth discussion of the acquisition of data by the Large Hadron Collider and CMS detector, and a pedagogical overview of the analysis methods used. No statistically significant deviation is found from the expected standard model background. The search results are presented and interpreted in the context of several simplified models of supersymmetry, including a model of Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry-Breaking (GSMB) with gluino production and models with Electroweakino production. The excluded mass ranges for these models are advanced by approximately 50-100% with respect to the best previous searches. This work represents the current state of the art for their exclusion.