A Boost for Dark Matter Searches

Joachim Kopp, University of Mainz

We consider two scenarios in which the first experimental hint for the particle physics nature of dark matter (DM) comes from highly boosted DM particles. The first scenario interprets the high energy events observed in IceCube as a signal of PeV DM decaying to a much lighter state, which in turn is detected in IceCube. The model explains the event rate and spectrum observed in IceCube, it shows a preference for shower-like events at the highest energies, and it features a small dip in the spectrum at few hundred TeV.  The second scenario is a very generic dark photon model. We point out that DM production at the LHC can be accompanied by final state radiation in the form of "dark photons", which decay back to SM particles.  We discuss this process analytically and numerically in analogy to collinear particle showers in QED and QCD. The smoking gun signal of this "radiating DM" scenario are collimated jets or lepton jets with unusual properties.

(The slides are now available.)