Probing conversion-driven freeze-out at the LHC

Abstract

Conversion-driven freeze-out is an appealing mechanism to explain the observed relic density while naturally accommodating the null results from direct and indirect detection due to a very weak dark matter coupling. Interestingly, the scenario predicts long-lived particles decaying into dark matter with lifetimes favorably coinciding with the range that can be resolved at the LHC. However, the small mass splitting between the long-lived particle and dark matter renders the visible decay products soft, thus challenging current search strategies. We consider four different classes of searches covering the entire range of lifetimes: heavy stable charge particles, disappearing tracks, displaced vertices, and missing energy searches. We discuss the applicability of these searches to conversion-driven freeze-out and derive current constraints highlighting their complementarity. For the displaced vertex search, we demonstrate how a slight modification of the current analysis significantly improves its sensitivity to the scenario. Published by the American Physical Society 2024