Whac-a-constraint with anomaly-free dark matter models

Abstract

Theories where a fermionic dark matter candidate interacts with the Standard Model through a vector mediator are often studied using minimal models, which are not necessarily anomaly-free. In fact, minimal anomaly-free simplified models are usually strongly constrained by either direct detection experiments or collider searches for dilepton resonances. In this paper, we study the phenomenology of models with a fermionic dark matter candidate that couples axially to a leptophobic vector mediator. Canceling anomalies in these models requires considerably enlarging their field content. For an example minimal scenario we show that the additional fields lead to a potentially much richer phenomenology than the one predicted by the original simplified model. In particular collider searches for pair-produced neutralinos and charginos can be more sensitive than traditional monojet searches in thermally motivated parts of the parameter space where the mediator is outside the reach of current searches.