LHC constraints on gauge boson couplings to dark matter

Abstract

Collider searches for energetic particles recoiling against missing transverse energy allow to place strong bounds on the interactions between dark matter (DM) and standard model particles. In this article we update and extend LHC constraints on effective dimension-7 operators involving DM and electroweak gauge bosons. A concise comparison of the sensitivity of the mono-photon, mono-W, mono-Z, mono-W/Z, invisible Higgs-boson decays in the vector boson fusion mode and the mono-jet channel is presented. Depending on the parameter choices, either the mono-photon or the mono-jet data provide the most stringent bounds at the moment. We furthermore explore the potential of improving the current 8 TeV limits at 14 TeV. Future strategies capable of disentangling the effects of the different effective operators involving electroweak gauge bosons are discussed as well.