Federica Giacchino Bruxelles

Signature from Dark Matter in the Vector-like Portal.(pdf)

Observations indicate that the 80% of the mass of the universe is made of DM. The goal of particle physicists is to explore its possible nature. DM particles are predicted by many theories beyond the Standard Model, but the current trend is to consider simple models, with few free parameters. My PhD is based on the generic idea of "portal", which rests on the introduction of a mediator connecting the hidden (DM) and visible (SM) sectors. The model I study is very simple indeed. The DM candidate is a real scalar singlet coupled to SM fermions through Yukawa interactions. This portal involves new vector-like fermions (heavy leptons or quarks) and generically the annihilation of DM is d-wave suppressed. We have analysed the phenomenology of leptophilic DM, and have shown that the model may give rise to very strong gamma ray features, "smoking gun" signatures for DM. We are now studying coupling to light quarks and the implications for direct and indirect detection and searches at the LHC.