Search for dark matter and unparticles produced in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions at √s=8 TeV

Abstract

et al. ; A search for evidence of particle dark matter (DM) and unparticle production at the LHC has been performed using events containing two charged leptons, consistent with the decay of a Z boson, and large missing transverse momentum. This study is based on data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1 of pp collisions at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. No significant excess of events is observed above the number expected from the standard model contributions. The results are interpreted in terms of 90% confidence level limits on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section, as a function of the DM particle mass, for both spin-dependent and spin-independent scenarios. Limits are set on the effective cutoff scale Λ, and on the annihilation rate for DM particles, assuming that their branching fraction to quarks is 100%. Additionally, the most stringent 95% confidence level limits to date on the unparticle model parameters are obtained. ; Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie program and the European Research Council and EPLANET (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A. P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office; the Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture (FRIA-Belgium); the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT-Belgium); the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic; the Council of Science and Industrial Research, India; the HOMING PLUS program of the Foundation for Polish Science, cofinanced by the European Union, Regional Development Fund; the OPUS program of the National Science Center (Poland); the Compagnia di San Paolo (Torino); MIUR Project No. 20108T4XTM (Italy); the Thalis and Aristeia programs cofinanced by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF; the National Priorities Research Program by Qatar National Research Fund; the Rachadapisek Sompot Fund for Postdoctoral Fellowship, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand); and the Welch Foundation, Contract No. C-1845. ; Peer Reviewed