Searches for Higgs bosons with dark matter at the Large Hadron Collider

Abstract

Convincing and direct evidence for dark matter (DM) on galactic scales comes from the observation of the rotation curves of galaxies. At particle colliders, searches for DM involve the production of a pair of stable electrically neutral and weakly interacting particles with a signature of missing transverse energy ($E^{\rm T}_{\rm miss}$) recoiling against a SM particle. The resulting signature yields a final state denoted as X+$E^{\rm T}_{\rm miss}$, where the SM particle X is emitted as initial state radiation. The Higgs boson discovery at the LHC opens a new window into the searches for new physics processes beyond the SM through the h+$E^{\rm T}_{\rm miss}$ signature, as a direct probe of the interaction involving DM particles. Due to the small Yukawa couplings to quarks and gluons, the initial state radiation of the Higgs boson is suppressed, but it can be produced in the case of a new interaction with DM particles. Searches for DM particles produced in association with the Higgs boson are discussed. They are based on proton-proton collision data at the LHC in different final states.