The Quest for Supersymmetry: Early LHC Results versus Direct and Indirect Neutralino Dark Matter Searches

Abstract

We compare the first results on searches for supersymmetry with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to the current and near-term performance of experiments sensitive to neutralino dark matter. We limit our study to the particular slices of parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension to the Standard Model where CMS and ATLAS exclusion limits have been presented so far. We show where, on that parameter space, the lightest neutralino possesses a thermal relic abundance matching the value inferred by cosmological observations. We then calculate rates for, and estimate the performance of, experiments sensitive to direct and indirect signals from neutralino dark matter. We argue that this is a unique point in time, where the quest for supersymmetry -- at least in one of its practical and simple incarnations -- is undergoing a close scrutiny from the LHC and from dark matter searches that is both synergistic and complementary. Should the time of discovery finally unravel, the current performances of the collider program and of direct and indirect dark matter searches are at a conjuncture offering unique opportunities for a breakthrough on the nature of physics beyond the Standard Model.