Decoding the Origin of Dark Matter

Abstract

Abstract. We discuss the interplay between LHC signatures and the mechanism by which dark matter is generated in the early universe in supersymmetric theories. The LHC signatures of two of the major mechanisms for such generation of dark matter which are known to be the Stau Coannihilation (Stau-Co) region and annihilation on the Hyperbolic Branch (HB) are exhibited in detail. By analyzing the various LHC signatures, including multi leptons, hadronic jets, b-tagging, and missing transverse momentum, one can discriminate between the Stau-Co region and the HB region for the mSUGRA model. Interestingly, there are some regions of the parameter space which are beyond the current and near future reach of the dark matter direct detection experiments but will be accessible at the LHC, and vise versa.