Search for Dark Matter at LHC
The presence of non directly detectable (“dark”) galactic matter cannot be explained within the boundaries of the standard model of particle physics, and thus represents one of the most compelling evidences for the potential existence of new physics fenomena.
Direct dark matter searches at the LHC can be performed by looking for weakly interacting massive particles produced in proton-proton interactions, allowing to probe an energy regime that is complementary to the one of galactic observations.
The CMS Napoli group has been involved in direct searches of dark matter candidates at the LHC with the Run-II data, in processes where dark matter candidates are produced in association with top quark-antiquark pairs. Dark matter candidates are produced in the final state, and although they do not interact with the detectors, they can manifest indirectly as energy missing for the collision event to have kinetic energy conservation