Shedding Light on Dark Matter at the LHC with Machine Learning

Abstract

We investigate a WIMP dark matter (DM) candidate in the form of a singlino-dominated lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) within the $Z_3$-symmetric Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). This framework gives rise to regions of parameter space where DM is obtained via co-annihilation with nearby higgsino-like electroweakinos and DM direct detection~signals are suppressed, the so-called ``blind spots''. On the other hand, collider signatures remain promising due to enhanced radiative decay modes of higgsinos into the singlino-dominated LSP and photons, rather than into leptons or hadrons. Compared to MSSM scenarios with light bino- and wino-like electroweakinos, the NMSSM allows for final states with multiple photons arising from cascade radiative decays, providing a distinctive collider signature. This motivates searches for radiatively decaying neutralinos, however, these signals face substantial background challenges, as the decay products are typically soft due to the small mass-splits ($\Delta m$) between the LSP and the higgsino-like coannihilation partners. We apply a data-driven Machine Learning (ML) analysis that improves sensitivity to these subtle signals, offering a powerful complement to traditional search strategies to discover a new physics scenario. Using an LHC integrated luminosity of $100{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ at $14\mathrm{TeV}$, the method achieves a $5\sigma$ discovery reach for higgsino masses up to $225\mathrm{GeV}$ with $\Delta m\lesssim 12\mathrm{GeV}$, and a $2\sigma$ exclusion up to $285\mathrm{GeV}$ with $\Delta m\lesssim 20\mathrm{GeV}$. These results highlight~the power of collider searches to probe DM candidates that remain hidden from current~direct detection experiments, and provide a motivation for a search by the LHC collaborations using ML methods.

26 pages + references, 6 figures, 8 tables, 1 appendix (version published in PRD)

References in corpus (117)

• Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
• Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC
• The automated computation of tree-level and next-to-leading order differential cross sections, and their matching to parton shower simulations
• An Introduction to PYTHIA 8.2
• A Brief Introduction to PYTHIA 8.1
• Asymptotic formulae for likelihood-based tests of new physics
• DELPHES 3, A modular framework for fast simulation of a generic collider experiment
• Final Report of the Muon E821 Anomalous Magnetic Moment Measurement at BNL
• Machine learning and the physical sciences
• Parton distributions with LHC data
• A Supersymmetry Primer
• Measurement of the Positive Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment to 0.46 ppm
• FeynRules - Feynman rules made easy
• The Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
• A high-bias, low-variance introduction to Machine Learning for physicists
• The Waning of the WIMP? A Review of Models, Searches, and Constraints
• micrOMEGAs2.0: a program to calculate the relic density of dark matter in a generic model
• Dark matter direct detection rate in a generic model with micrOMEGAs2.2
• First Dark Matter Search Results from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• The Well-Tempered Neutralino
• Dark Matter Search Results from the PandaX-4T Commissioning Run
• First Dark Matter Search with Nuclear Recoils from the XENONnT Experiment
• NMHDECAY 2.0: An updated program for Sparticle masses, Higgs masses, couplings and decay widths in the NMSSM
• Deep Learning and its Application to LHC Physics
• DARWIN: towards the ultimate dark matter detector
• NMHDECAY: A Fortran Code for the Higgs Masses, Couplings and Decay Widths in the NMSSM
• Neutralino Dark Matter in Focus Point Supersymmetry
• Jet Substructure at the Large Hadron Collider: A Review of Recent Advances in Theory and Machine Learning
• Dark Matter Search Results from the PICO-60 C${}_3$F${}_8$ Bubble Chamber
• Limits to dark matter annihilation cross-section from a combined analysis of MAGIC and Fermi-LAT observations of dwarf satellite galaxies
• CheckMATE 2: From the model to the limit
• Performance of missing transverse momentum reconstruction in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV using the CMS detector
• HiggsBounds-5: Testing Higgs Sectors in the LHC 13 TeV Era
• Constraining the Spin-Dependent WIMP-Nucleon Cross Sections with XENON1T
• HiggsSignals-2: Probing new physics with precision Higgs measurements in the LHC 13 TeV era
• Searches for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles with compressed mass spectra in $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector
• Cosmic-ray electron+positron spectrum from 7 GeV to 2 TeV with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• Relic density of dark matter in the NMSSM
• Light Neutralino Dark Matter in the NMSSM
• Fog on the horizon: a new definition of the neutrino floor for direct dark matter searches
• Stealth Supersymmetry
• Search for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in final states with two or three leptons at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Dark Matter Search Results from 4.2 Tonne-Years of Exposure of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• Search for electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos in multilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Combined search for electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Machine and Deep Learning Applications in Particle Physics
• The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon in the Standard Model: an update
• Simplified Models of Mixed Dark Matter
• NMSDECAY: A Fortran Code for Supersymmetric Particle Decays in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
• Search for chargino--neutralino pair production in final states with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector
• Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Search for supersymmetry in final states with two oppositely charged same-flavor leptons and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Hidden Sector Dark Matter Models for the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess
• Dark Light Higgs
• NMSSM Interpretation of the Galactic Center Excess
• A Stealth Supersymmetry Sampler
• A superspace module for the FeynRules package
• Search for direct production of electroweakinos in final states with one lepton, missing transverse momentum and a Higgs boson decaying into two $b$-jets in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Theoretical predictions for the direct detection of neutralino dark matter in the NMSSM
• Constraining new physics with SModelS version 2
• Phenomenological viability of neutralino dark matter in the NMSSM
• Higgs Portals for Thermal Dark Matter - EFT Perspectives and the NMSSM -
• Blind spots for neutralino dark matter in the NMSSM
• Machine Learning for Anomaly Detection in Particle Physics
• NMSSM with a singlino LSP: possible challenges for searches for supersymmetry at the LHC
• PandaX-xT: a Multi-ten-tonne Liquid Xenon Observatory at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory
• Neutralino/chargino pair production at NLO+NLL with resummation-improved PDFs for LHC Run II
• Search for GeV-scale Dark Matter Annihilation in the Sun with IceCube DeepCore
• Dark Matter in a Constrained NMSSM
• Natural NMSSM after LHC Run I and the Higgsino dominated dark matter scenario
• Search for electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Searches for new phenomena in events with two leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum in 139 fb${}^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector
• Search for chargino and neutralino production in final states with a Higgs boson and missing transverse momentum at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Supersymmetric Scenarios with Dominant Radiative Neutralino Decay
• Search for supersymmetry in final states with two or three soft leptons and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Modified Signals for Supersymmetry in the NMSSM with a Singlino-like LSP
• The higgsino-singlino sector of the NMSSM: Combined constraints from dark matter and the LHC
• Present Status and Future Tests of the Higgsino-Singlino Sector in the NMSSM
• Search for photonic signatures of gauge-mediated supersymmetry in 13 TeV $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector
• Current Status of Natural NMSSM in Light of LHC 13TeV Data and XENON-1T Results
• Suppressing the Scattering of WIMP DM with Nucleons in Supersymmetric Theories
• The interpretation for Galactic Center Excess and Electroweak Phase Transition in the NMSSM
• Singlino-driven Electroweak Baryogenesis in the Next-to-MSSM
• The NMSSM is within Reach of the LHC: Mass Correlations & Decay Signatures
• Light Singlino Dark Matter at the LHC
• Natural NMSSM with a Light Singlet Higgs and Singlino LSP
• Search for direct production of electroweakinos in final states with missing transverse momentum and a Higgs boson decaying into photons in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Machine Learning in High Energy Physics: A review of heavy-flavor jet tagging at the LHC
• Searching for Singlino-Higgsino Dark Matter in the NMSSM
• Production of singlino dominated neutralinos in extended supersymmetric models
• The Higgsino-Singlino World at the Large Hadron Collider
• The current status of fine-tuning in supersymmetry
• Search for supersymmetry in final states with photons and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV
• Confronting the neutralino and chargino sector of the NMSSM to the multi-lepton searches at the LHC
• Singlino-dominated dark matter in $Z_3$-NMSSM
• Search for chargino-neutralino production in events with Higgs and W bosons using 137 fb${}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Dark Matter in the Singlet Extension of MSSM: Explanation of Pamela and Implication on Higgs Phenomenology
• Search for supersymmetry in events with a photon, a lepton, and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Status of the singlino-dominated dark matter in general Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
• Current bounds and future prospects of light neutralino dark matter in NMSSM
• Search for supersymmetry using Higgs boson to diphoton decays at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Self Consistent Thermal Resummation: A Case Study of the Phase Transition in 2HDM
• A relatively light, highly bino-like dark matter in the $Z_3$-symmetric NMSSM and recent LHC searches
• A method for approximating optimal statistical significances with machine-learned likelihoods
• The new $(g-2{)}_{\mu }$ and Right-Handed Sneutrino Dark Matter
• Spin-dependent constraints on blind spots for thermal singlino-higgsino dark matter with(out) light singlets
• Search for new physics in multijet events with at least one photon and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV
• Long live The NMSSM!
• Dark matter candidates in the NMSSM with RH neutrino superfields
• Revisiting singlino dark matter of the natural $Z_3$-symmetric NMSSM in the light of LHC
• Unsupervised and lightly supervised learning in particle physics
• Search for new phenomena in final states with photons, jets and missing transverse momentum in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Insights into Dark Matter Direct Detection Experiments: Decision Trees versus Deep Learning
• Machine-Learning Analysis of Radiative Decays to Dark Matter at the LHC
• Right-handed sneutrino and gravitino multicomponent dark matter in light of neutrino detectors
• Dark Matter and Electroweak Baryogenesis with Spontaneous $CP$ Violation in the Early Universe
• Implementation of full and simplified likelihoods in CheckMATE