We consider a supersymmetric Grand Unified Theory (GUT) based on the gauge group SO(10) suggested by Aulakh et al., which features two--step intermediate symmetry breaking, $SO(10) \to SU(4)_C \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \to SU(3)_C \times U(1)_{B-L} \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \to SU(3)_C \times SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y$. {\bf $45, 54, 126+\overline{126}$} dimensional representations of Higgs superfields are employed to achieve this symmetry breaking chain. We also introduce a second, very heavy, pair of Higgs doublets, which modifies the Yukawa couplings of matter fields relative to minimal SO(10) predictions. We analyze the differences in the low energy phenomenology compared to that of mSUGRA, assuming universal soft breaking scalar masses, gaugino masses and trilinear couplings at the GUT scale. We find that thermal neutralino Dark Matter remains viable in this scenario, although for small and moderate values of $\tanβ$ the allowed region is even more highly constrained than in mSUGRA, and depends strongly on the the light neutrino masses.
We consider different patterns of supersymmetry breaking gaugino masses, and implications of these patterns for the phenomenology of neutralinos and charginos in models of low energy supersymmetry. We outline a general procedure for obtaining approximate values for the neutralino masses relevant for our analysis, and describe the constraints on the gaugino mass parameters which follow from the present experimental limits on the mass of the lightest chargino. We evaluate an upper bound on the mass of the lightest neutralino that follows from the structure of the mass matrix in different models …
We have considered neutralino to be the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) in the framework of minimal Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetric (mAMSB) model. We have studied variation of neutralino mass with the supersymmetric parameters. Considering these neutralinos to be the candidates for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) or cold dark matter (CDM), we have calculated the neutralino nucleon scalar cross-sections and compared them with DAMA-NaI neutralino direct detection search results. From this study we observe that the mAMSB model results cannot explain the allowed region in WIMP ma…
We discuss the phenomenology of the lightest neutralino in models where an effective bilinear term in the superpotential parametrizes the explicit breaking of R-parity. We consider supergravity scenarios where the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is the lightest neutralino and which can be explored at LEP2. We present a detailed study of the LSP decay properties and general features of the corresponding signals expected at LEP2. We also contrast our model with gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking.
We show some phenomenological implications for the dark matter problem of a class of models with deflected anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking in the context of the MSSM. This scenario can be naturally embedded in a brane world model with one compactified extra dimension. It turns out that in these models the neutralino is still the LSP and so a good candidate as cold dark matter. We found that the neutralino is quite a pure bino in almost all the parameter space. Moreover we computed the thermal relic density and we found wide cosmologically allowed regions for the neutralino.
We consider the production of neutralino, chargino, and charged Higgs boson pairs in the MSSM framework at future $e^+e^-$ colliders. We show that, for c.m. energies in the one TeV range and in a ``moderately'' light SUSY scenario, a combined analysis of the slopes of these production cross sections could lead to a strong consistency test involving the soft supersymmetric breaking parameters $M_1$, $M_2$, the Higgsino parameter $μ$, and $\tanβ$.
We analyse the relic neutralino density in supersymmetric models with an intermediate unification scale. In particular, we present concrete cosmological scenarios where the reheating temperature is as small as $\cal{O}$ $1 - 1000$ MeV). When this temperature is associated to the decay of moduli fields producing neutralinos, we show that the relic abundance increases considerably with respect to the standard thermal production. Thus the neutralino becomes a good dark matter candidate with $0.1\lsim Ωh^2 \lsim 0.3$, even for regions of the parameter space where large neutralino-nucleon cross sec…
We show that in gauge mediation models where heavy messenger masses are provided by the adjoint Higgs field of an underlying SU(5) theory, a generalized gauge mediation spectrum arises with the characteristic feature of having a neutralino LSP much lighter than in the standard gauge or gravity mediation schemes. This naturally fits in a hybrid scenario where gravity mediation, while subdominant with respect to gauge mediation, provides mu and Bmu parameters of the appropriate size for electroweak symmetry breaking.
We compute one loop radiative corrections to the physical neutralino masses in the MSSM considering the dominant top-stop contributions. We present a numerical renormalization group analysis of the feasibility of the radiative gauge symmetry breaking parametrized by the standard soft supersymmetry breaking terms. Although the above computed effects can be in principle large for extreme values of the Yukawa couplings, they do not in general exceed a few per cent for most of the parameter space. Therefore tree level constraints imposed on the gluino mass $m_{\tilde{g}}$ and on the superpotential…
We study the radiative electroweak symmetry breaking and the relic abundance of neutralino dark matter in the supersymmetric type I seesaw model. In this model, there exist threshold corrections to Higgs bilinear terms coming from heavy singlet sneutrino loops, which make the soft supersymmetry breaking (SSB) mass for up-type Higgs shift at the seesaw scale and thus a minimization condition for the Higgs potential is affected. We show that the required fine-tuning between the Higgsino mass parameter mu and the SSB mass for up-type Higgs may be reduced at the electroweak scale, due to the thres…
We derive the general upper bounds on the mass of the lightest neutralino, as a function of the gluino mass, in different supersymmetry breaking models with minimal particle content and the standard model gauge group. This includes models with gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking (SUGRA), as well as models with anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB). We include the next-to-leading order corrections in our evaluation of these bounds. We then expand the mass matrix in powers of M_Z/mu, and find the upper bound on the mass of the lightest neutralino from this expansion. By scanning ove…
We compute the neutralino-nucleon cross section in several supersymmetric scenarios, taking into account all kind of constraints. In particular, the constraints that the absence of dangerous charge and colour breaking minima imposes on the parameter space are studied in detail. In addition, the most recent experimental constraints, such as the lower bound on the Higgs mass, the $b\to sγ$ branching ratio, and the muon $g-2$ are considered. The astrophysical bounds on the dark matter density are also imposed on the theoretical computation of the relic neutralino density, assuming thermal product…
We study the spin-independent neutralino Dark Matter scattering off heavy nuclei in the MSSM. We identify analytically the blind spots in direct detection for intermediate values of $m_A$. In the region where $μ$ and $M_{1,2}$ have opposite signs, there is not only a reduction of the lightest CP-even Higgs coupling to neutralinos, but also a destructive interference between the neutralino scattering through the exchange of the lightest CP-even Higgs and that through the exchange of the heaviest CP-even Higgs. At critical values of $m_A$, the tree-level contribution from the light Higgs exchang…
We investigate the detectability of neutralino Dark Matter via direct and indirect searches as well as collider signatures of an $SO(10)$ model with two intermediate scales. We compare the direct Dark Matter detection cross section and the muon flux due to neutralino annihilation in the Sun that we obtain in this model with mSUGRA predictions and with the sensitivity of current and future experiments. In both cases, we find that the detectability improves as the model deviates more from mSUGRA. In order to study collider signatures, we choose two benchmark points that represent the main phenom…
We consider the phenomenological implications of a soft SUSY breaking term BN at the TeV scale (here B is the U(1)_Y gaugino and N is the right-handed neutrino field). In models with a massless (or nearly massless) neutralino, such a term will give rise through the see-saw mechanism to new contributions to the mass matrix of the light neutrinos. We treat the massless neutralino as an (almost) sterile neutrino and find that its mass depends on the square of the soft SUSY breaking scale, with interesting consequences for neutrino physics. We also show that, although it requires fine-tuning, a ma…
We investigate neutralino dark matter in supersymmetric flipped SU(5), focusing on candidates with masses of order 30 - 150 GeV and spin independent cross sections that are consistent with the most recent CDMS II results. We assume gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking and restrict the magnitude of the soft supersymmetry breaking mass parameters to 1 TeV or less. With non-universal soft gaugino and Higgs masses, and taking flipped SU(5) into account, we identify allowed regions of the parameter space and highlight some benchmark solutions including Higgs and sparticle spectroscopy.
We consider a model for neutralino dark matter candidates arising in anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking schemes, and examine its testability through the search for exotic cosmic rays produced by neutralino pair annihilations in the dark halo of the Galaxy. We find that the model is already constrained by available antiprotons and positrons measurements and may be further tested in upcoming measurements of these cosmic ray species. We show also that the monochromatic gamma-ray flux from neutralino annihilations is enhanced in this model up to two orders of magnitude with respect to alterna…
The appearance of a natural dark matter candidate, the neutralino, is among the principal successes of minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) and its descendents. In lieu of a suitable ultraviolet completion, however, theories of gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking such as mSUGRA suffer from arbitrary degrees of flavor violation. Though theories of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking are free from such prohibitive flavor violation, they typically lack natural neutralino dark matter candidates. Yet this conventional dichotomy breaks down when the hidden sector is strongly coupled; in models of gau…
We study models in which supersymmetry breaking appears at an intermediate scale, M_in, below the GUT scale. That is, that the soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters of the MSSM are universal at M_in. We demand that the lightest neutralino be the LSP, and that the relic neutralino density not conflict with measurements by WMAP and others, and study the morphology of this constraint as the universality scale is reduced from the GUT scale. At moderate values of M_in, we find that the allowed regions of the (m_1/2,m_0) plane are squeezed by the requirements of electroweak symmetry breaking and th…
We review the calculation of the LSP relic density in alternative cosmological scenarios where contributions from direct decay production are important. We study supersymmetric models with intermediate unification scale. We find concrete scenarios where the reheating temperature is of order one GeV ($M_I\sim 10^{12}$) and below. If the case that this reheating temperature is associated to the decay of oscillating moduli fields appearing in string theories, we show that the LSP relic density considerably increases with respect to the standard radiation-dominated case by the effect of the direct…
We consider the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with varying amounts of non-universality in the soft supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the Higgs scalar masses. In addition to the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) in which these are universal with the soft supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the squark and slepton masses at the input GUT scale, we consider scenarios in which both the Higgs masses are non-universal by the same amount (NUHM1), and scenarios in which they are independently non-universal (NUHM2). As the lightest neutralino is a dark matter candidate, we demand that th…
We investigate the prospects for neutralino dark matter within the Supersymmetric Standard Model (SSM) including the constraints from universal soft supersymmetry breaking and radiative breaking of the electroweak symmetry. The latter is enforced by using the one-loop Higgs effective potential which automatically gives the one-loop corrected Higgs boson masses. We perform an exhaustive search of the allowed five-dimensional parameter space and find that the neutralino relic abundance $Ω_χh^2_0$ depends most strongly on the ratio $ξ_0\equiv m_0/m_{1/2}$. For $ξ_0\gg1$ the relic abundance is alm…
Various methods of searching for supersymmetric dark matter are sensitive to WIMPs with different properties. One consequence of this is that the phenomenology of dark matter detection can vary dramatically in different supersymmetric breaking scenarios. In this paper, we consider the sensitivities to supersymmetric dark matter of different detection methods and techniques in a wide variety of supersymmetric breaking scenarios. We discuss the ability of various astrophysical experiments, such as direct experiments, gamma-rays satellites, neutrino telescopes and positron and anti-proton cosmic …
A recent observation of the two candidate events of the dark matter recoiling at CDMS-II is suggestive of dark matter with a mass not far above 100GeV. We propose a model of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking where the lightest neutralino is identified as dark matter which may provide the observed signals.
We calculate ``relic abundances'' and ``detection rates'' of the neutralino (LSP) in string-inspired supergravity models with ``dilaton-moduli'' induced supersymmetry breaking. In particular we investigate ``universal'' scenarios for the soft-supersymmetry breaking terms from Calabi-Yau compactifications, as well as from the dilaton-dominated limit. ``Non-universal'' scenarios from orbifold string theory are also incorporated into the analysis. In all cases, in the cosmologically interesting region, we find $m_{LSP}\geq 50$ GeV and direct-detection rates in the range O($10^{-3}$ events/(Kg day…
We study the production of neutralinos and charginos at LEP and at a linear collider in the case of spontaneously broken R-parity. We first investigate the constraints on the single neutralino and chargino production from the LEP 1 experiments, and then we consider the production at LEP 2 and at a linear collider. We concentrate on the supersymmetric $SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_{B-L}$ model, where the spontaneous R-parity breaking is inevitable and is associated with the breaking of the LR-symmetry.
In supersymmetric models extended with an anomalous $U(1)_H$ different R-parity violating couplings can yield an unstable neutralino. We show that in this context astrophysical and cosmological constraints on neutralino decaying dark matter forbid bilinear R-parity breaking neutralino decays and lead to a class of purely trilinear R-parity violating scenarios in which the neutralino is stable on cosmological scales. We have found that among the resulting models some of them become suitable to explain the observed anomalies in cosmic-ray electron/positron fluxes.
We propose a mechanism of nonthermal production of a neutralino cold dark matter particle, $χ$, from the decay of cosmic strings which form from the spontaneous breaking of a U(1) gauge symmetry, such as $U_{B-L}(1)$, in an extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). By explicit calculation, we point out that with a symmetry breaking scale $η$ of around $10^8$ GeV, the decay of cosmic strings can give rise to $Ω_χ\simeq 1$. This gives a new constraint on supersymmetric models. For example, the dark matter produced from strings will overclose the universe if $η$ is near the e…
We compute the cosmic relic (dark matter) density of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) in the framework of minimal $N=1$ Supergravity models with radiative breaking of the electroweak gauge symmetry. To this end, we re--calculate the cross sections for all possible annihilation processes for a general, mixed neutralino state with arbitrary mass. Our analysis includes effects of all Yukawa couplings of third generation fermions, and allows for a fairly general set of soft SUSY breaking parameters at the Planck scale. We find that a cosmologically interesting relic density emerges natur…
We quantitatively explore, in the context of the D0 detector at the Tevatron, three very different techniques for observing delayed decays of the lightest neutralino of a simple gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB) model to photon plus gravitino. It is demonstrated that the delayed-decay signals considered can greatly increase the region of general GMSB parameter space for which supersymmetry can be detected. In the simple class of models considered, the combination of standard supersymmetry signals and delayed-decay signals potentially yields at least one viable signal for nearly all …
We study the neutralino sector of the left-right supersymmetric model. In addition to the possibilities available in the minimal supersymmetric model, the neutralino states can be superpartners of the U(1)_{B-L} gauge boson, the neutral SU(2)_R neutral gauge boson, or of the Higgs triplets. We analyze neutralino masses and determine the parameter regions for which the lightest neutralino can be one of the new pure states. We then calculate the relic density of the dark matter for each of these states and impose the constraints coming from the rho parameter, the anomalous magnetic moment of the…
The lightest neutralino, as the dark matter candidate, can be gravitationally captured by the Sun. In this paper, we studied the high energy neutrino signals from solar neutralino annihilations in the core of the Sun in the anomaly mediated supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking (AMSB) model. Based on the event-by-event monte carlo simulation code WimpSim, we studied the detailed energy and angular spectrum of the final muons at large neutrino telescope IceCube. More precisely we simulated the processes since the production of neutrino via neutralino annihilation in the core of the Sun, neutrino propag…
We identify within the SU(5) framework the minimum number of soft supersymmetry breaking parameters which can yield a bottom squrak (sbottom) as the next to lightest supersymmetric particle. We focus in particular on the neutralino-sbottom coannihilation scenario which gives rise to the desired neutralino dark matter relic density. We find solutions in which the sbottom mass is greater than or of order 210 GeV, while the gluino and the first two family squarks are heavier than 1 TeV. Some benchmark points which can be tested at the LHC are presented.
We study the neutralino relic density in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with natural light Higgs sector in which all Higgs masses, the supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking parameters, and the higgsino mass parameter mu are of order the weak scale. To realize this situation we adopt nonuniversal Higgs masses at the grand unified scale. We show that in some parameter space in which the SUSY breaking parameters are comparatively small, not only the constraint from the observed relic density of dark matter but also the LEP Higgs bound and the constraint from the b ->s gamma process are satisfi…
The Indirect Detection of neutralino Dark Matter is most promising through annihilation channels producing a hard energy spectrum for the detected particles, such as the neutralino annihilation into $Zh$. A cancellation however makes this particular annihilation channel generically subdominant in the huge parameter space of supersymmetric models. This cancellation requires non-trivial relations between neutralino mixings and masses, which we derive from gauge independence and unitarity of the MSSM. To show how the cancellation overshoots leaving only a subdominant result, we use a perturbative…
We have included the effective description of squark interactions with charginos/neutralinos in the MadGraph MSSM model. This effective description includes the effective Yukawa couplings, and another logarithmic term which encodes the supersymmetry-breaking. We have performed an extensive test of our implementation analyzing the results of the partial decay widths of squarks into charginos and neutralinos obtained by using FeynArts/FormCalc programs and the new model file in MadGraph. We present results for the cross-section of top-squark production decaying into charginos and neutralinos.
In conventional models of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is invariably the gravitino. However, if the supersymmetry breaking sector is strongly coupled, conformal sequestering may raise the mass of the gravitino relative to the remaining soft supersymmetry-breaking masses. In this letter, we demonstrate that such conformal dynamics in gauge-mediated theories may give rise to satisfactory neutralino dark matter while simultaneously solving the flavor and mu/ B mu problems.
We discuss the sparticle (and Higgs) spectrum in a class of flavor symmetry-based minimal supersymmetric standard models, referred to here as sMSSM. In this framework the SUSY breaking Lagrangian takes the most general form consistent with a grand unified symmetry such as SO(10) and a non-Abelian flavor symmetry acting on the three families with either a 2+1 or a 3 family assignment. Models based on gauged SU(2) and SO(3) flavor symmetry, as well as non-Abelian discrete symmetries such as S_3 and A_4, have been suggested which fall into this category. These models describe supersymmetry breaki…
A detailed analysis of dark matter event rates in minimal supergravity models (MSGM) is given. It is shown analytically that the lightest neutralino the ${{\tilde {Z}_{1}}}$ is the LSP over almost all of the parameter space, and hence the natural candidate for cold dark matter (CDM). The radiative breaking of $SU(2)\times U(1)$ constraints are shown to be crucial in determining the expected event rates. Approximate analytic formulae are obtained to determine the gaugino-higgsino content of the ${{\tilde{Z}_{1}}}$ particle.From this one can deduce the behavior of the event rates as one varies t…
In supersymmetric models with gravity-mediated SUSY breaking, universality of soft SUSY breaking sfermion masses m_0 is motivated by the need to suppress unwanted flavor changing processes. The same motivation, however, does not apply to soft breaking Higgs masses, which may in general have independent masses from matter scalars at the GUT scale. We explore phenomenological implications of both the one-parameter and two-parameter non-universal Higgs mass models (NUHM1 and NUHM2), and examine the parameter ranges compatible with Omega_CDM h^2, BF(b --> s,gamma) and (g-2)_mu constraints. In cont…
We investigate the possibility that gauginos are massless at tree level and that the U(1) R-invariance is broken spontaneously by Higgs vevs, like the chiral symmetry of quarks in the standard model, or else explicitly by dimension 2 or 3 SUSY-breaking terms in the low energy effective Lagrangian. Gluino and lightest neutralino masses then depend on only a few parameters. For a SUSY-breaking scale <~ 400 GeV, the gluino and lightest neutralino have masses typically in the range 1/10 ~ 2 1/2 GeV. On the other hand, for a SUSY-breaking scale several TeV or larger, radiative contributions can yie…
We study the pattern of gluino cascade decays in a class of supersymmetric models where R-parity is spontaneously broken. We give a detailed discussion of the R-parity violating decays of the lightest neutralino, the second lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino. The multi-lepton and same-sign dilepton signal rates expected in these models are compared with those predicted in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We show that these rates can be substantially enhanced in broken R-parity models.
The lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is stable in an R-parity conserving theory. In this article the steps needed to calculate the present day mass density of such a particle are detailed. It is shown that there can be a cosmologically significant amount of LSP dark matter in the universe. Furthermore, relic abundance considerations put an upper bound on how large supersymmetry breaking masses can be without resorting to finetuning arguments.
We evaluate the supersymmetry reach of the Large Hadron Collider within the gauge-mediated low energy supersymmetry breaking framework, assuming that a neutralino is the second lightest sparticle and that it decays promptly into a gravitino which escapes detection. We find that the maximum reach is obtained via a search for inclusive $γγ+\eslt$ events coming dominantly from chargino and neutralino production. Assuming an integrated luminosity of 10~$fb^{-1}$, we find that LHC experiments will be able to probe values of the model parameter $Λ\alt 400$ TeV, corresponding to $m_{\tg} \leq 2.8$ Te…
We consider a left-right symmetric SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R (4-2-2) model with gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking. We find that with 4-2-2 compatible non-universal gaugino masses, t-b-τYukawa coupling unification is consistent with neutralino dark matter abundance and with constraints from collider experiments (except (g-2)_μ). The gluino mass lies close to that of the lightest neutralino, so that the gluino co-annihilation channel plays an important role in determining the neutralino relic abundance. By relaxing the Yukawa unification constraint we find stau and stop masses …
If the two lightest neutralinos of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model have a mass splitting less than the Z boson mass, interference effects in the three-body decay chi_2^0 --> chi_1^0 f f can be important. We formulate an observable that contains information on the nature of the interference: the ratio BR(chi_2^0 --> chi_1^0 b b) / BR(chi_2^0 --> chi_1^0 l+ l-). This will give a constraint on the supersymmetry breaking parameters that is complementary to many techniques already existing in the literature. We present some ideas on how to perform a simple counting experiment to determine…
We study the phenomenology of neutralino dark matter (DM) in mirage mediation scenario of supersymmetry breaking which results from the moduli stabilization in some string/brane models. Depending upon the model parameters, especially the anomaly to modulus mediation ratio determined by the moduli stabilization mechanism, the nature of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) changes from Bino-like neutralino to Higgsino-like one via Bino-Higgsino mixing region. For the Bino-like LSP, the standard thermal production mechanism can give a right amount of relic DM density through the stop/stau-n…
We review the direct detection of supersymmetric dark matter in the light of recent experimental results. In particular, we show that regions in the parameter space of several supergravity scenarios with a neutralino-nucleon cross section of order of $10^{-6}$ pb, i.e., where current dark matter detectors are sensitive, can be obtained. These are scenarios with large $\tan β$, with non-universal soft supersymmetry-breaking terms, with multi-TeV masses for scalar superpartners known as `focus point' supersymmetry, and finally scenarios with intermediate unification scale which appear naturally …
We investigate neutralino dark matter from a string/M-theory perspective. Using the Kallosh-Linde (KL) scenario to stabilize the string moduli requires supersymmetry breaking for uplifting to a de Sitter vacuum. We consider the free magnetic dual description of $\mathcal{N}=1$ SUSY QCD with massive flavours, the Intriligator-Seiberg-Shih model (ISS), as an F-term dynamical SUSY breaking sector. This framework allows for a gravitino mass in the TeV range. Moreover, due to the plethora of particles from the ISS sector, we investigate the consequences of coupling the MSSM with the KL-ISS setup to…
The cosmological significance of the neutralino sector is studied for a class of models in which electroweak symmetry breaking is seeded by a gauge singlet. Extensive use is made of the renormalisation group equations to significantly reduce the parameter space, by deriving analytic expressions for all the supersymmetry-breaking couplings in terms of the universal gaugino mass $m_{1/2}$, the universal scalar mass $m_0$ and the coupling $A$. The composition of the LSP is determined exactly below the W mass, no approximations are made for sfermion masses, and all particle exchanges are considere…
The extra particles provided by Supersymmetry (SUSY) appear as natural candidates for exotica such as the missing Dark Matter of the Universe. The particle candidates for Dark Matter, and the basic elements of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model are reviewed. The needed elements to compute the neutralino counting rate are given, considering new Yukawa loop corrections to the neutralino-neutralino-Higgs boson couplings when the neutralino is a Bino-like state. Including the new loop corrections in the Bino limit, the counting rate is improved for several values of the sof…
We discuss the possibilities for the direct detection of neutralino dark matter via elastic scattering in variants of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) with non-universal supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the Higgs masses, which may be either equal (NUHM1) or independent (NUHM2). We compare the ranges found in the NUHM1 and NUHM2 with that found in the MSSM with universal supersymmetry-breaking contributions to all scalar masses, the CMSSM. We find that both the NUHM1 and NUHM2 offer the possibility of larger spin-independent dark matter scattering cross s…
We calculate the relic abundance of mixed axion/neutralino cold dark matter which arises in R-parity conserving supersymmetric (SUSY) models wherein the strong CP problem is solved by the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism with a concommitant axion/saxion/axino supermultiplet. By numerically solving the coupled Boltzmann equations, we include the combined effects of 1. thermal axino production with cascade decays to a neutralino LSP, 2. thermal saxion production and production via coherent oscillations along with cascade decays and entropy injection, 3. thermal neutralino production and re-annihilati…
We investigate the dark matter prospects of supersymmetric models with nonuniversal gaugino masses. We find that for very particular values of the ratio of soft supersymmetry-breaking gaugino masses, M2/M1, an enhanced coannihilation efficiency between the lightest chargino and the lightest neutralino occurs, allowing for scalars with masses well above the normally accepted limits for viable dark matter in the universal case. As a specific example, we investigate models of hidden sector gaugino condensation. These models exhibit high scalar masses, previously thought dangerous, and the requisi…
The region of low neutralino masses as low as (5-10) GeV has attracted attention recently due to the possibility of excess events above background in dark matter detectors. An analysis of spin independent neutralino-proton cross sections $\SI$ which includes this low mass region is given. The analysis is done in MSSM with radiative electroweak symmetry breaking (REWSB). It is found that cross sections as large as $10^{-40}$ cm$^2$ can be accommodated in MSSM within the REWSB framework. However, inclusion of sparticle mass limits from current experiments, as well as lower limits on the Higgs se…
We study the decays of a standard model-like MSSM Higgs boson to pairs of neutralinos, each of which subsequently decays promptly to a photon and a gravitino. Such decays can arise in supersymmetric scenarios where supersymmetry breaking is mediated to us by gauge interactions with a relatively light gauge messenger sector (M_{mess} < 100 TeV). This process gives rise to a collider signal consisting of a pair of photons and missing energy. In the present work we investigate the bounds on this scenario within the minimal supersymmetric standard model from existing collider data. We also study t…
We analyse the phenomenology of orbifold scenarios from the heterotic superstring, and the resulting theoretical predictions for the direct detection of neutralino dark matter. In particular, we study the parameter space of these constructions, computing the low-energy spectrum and taking into account the most recent experimental and astrophysical constraints, as well as imposing the absence of dangerous charge and colour breaking minima. In the remaining allowed regions the spin-independent part of the neutralino-proton cross section is calculated and compared with the sensitivity of dark mat…
Searches for supersymmetry are among the most exciting physics goals at Run II of the Tevatron. In particular, in supersymmetric models with light charginos, neutralinos and sleptons, associated chargino--neutralino production can potentially be observed as multi-lepton events with missing energy. We discuss how, in the generic TeV-scale MSSM, the prospects for these chargino-neutralino searches are impacted by cosmological considerations, namely the neutralino relic abundance and direct detection limits. We also discuss what an observation of chargino-neutralino production at the Tevatron wou…
We study the amounts of fine-tuning of the parameters of the MSSM with non-universal soft supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the Higgs masses (the NUHM) that would be required for the relic neutralino density to lie within the range favoured by WMAP and other astrophysical and cosmological observations. Such dark matter fine-tuning is analogous to the commonly studied electroweak fine-tuning associated with satisfying the electroweak symmetry breaking conditions, which we also study for completeness. We identify several distinct regions of the NUHM parameter space: a bulk region, a $\stau…
We investigate a possibility to explain the discrepancy between the Standard Model predictions and the observed value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon within unorthodox SUSY scenarios in which neutralinos are unstable. We start by reviewing the muon g-2 calculations in the MSSM and confront it with the most up-to-date experimental constraints. We find out that the next generation of direct detection DM experiments combined with the current LHC results will ultimately test the parameter region that can explain the $(g-2)_μ$ anomaly in the MSSM. Next, we study R-parity violating and …
The neutralino-proton cross section is examined for supergravity models with R-parity invariance with universal and non-universal soft breaking. The region of parameter space that dark matter detectors are currently (or will be shortly) sensitive i.e. $(0.1-10)\times 10^{-6}$ pb, is examined. For universal soft breaking (mSUGRA), detectors with sensitivity $σ_{\tildeχ_{1}^{0}-p} \geq 1 \times 10^{-6}$ pb will be able to sample parts of the parameter space for $\tan β\stackrel{>}{\sim} 25$. Current relic density bounds restrict $m_{\tildeχ_{1}^{0}} \leq 120$ GeV for the maximum cross sections, …
