Top partners and scalar dark matter -- a non-minimal reappraisal

Abstract

A large set of models beyond the Standard Model of particle physics suggest that the top quark plays a special role in fundamental interactions. At the same time some of these models predict that a particle responsible for dark matter is present in the physical spectrum of the theory, and in particular cases dark matter may be specially linked to the top sector. Such a new physics configuration occurs, for instance, in composite frameworks that additionally feature vector-like quarks as mediators of the interactions of the dark matter with the Standard Model. We investigate the interplay of top-philic dark matter and the presence of several vector-like top partners. Such a non-minimal setup with several vector-like fermions is typical of composite scenarios, and we make use of an effective model to study to which extent such non-minimality modifies the collider and cosmological phenomenology of the minimal model, the latter only including one vector-like mediator of the dark matter interactions with the Standard Model.

7 pages, 4 figures. v2: discussion on collider constraints extended

References in corpus (5)

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• Effective Theories for Dark Matter Nucleon Scattering
• Search for single production of a vector-like $T$ quark decaying into a Higgs boson and top quark with fully hadronic final states using the ATLAS detector
• Search for single production of a vector-like T quark decaying to a top quark and a Z boson in the final state with jets and missing transverse momentum at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Scalar leptoquarks at the LHC and flavour anomalies: a comparison of pair-production modes at NLO-QCD