DMAstroLHC

There is strong evidence, from astrophysics and cosmological measurements that most of the matter that constitutes the universe is dark. Early indications of the presence of dark matter (DM) from observations of rotation curves of galaxies and galaxy clusters were confirmed in the last few years with the precise extraction of the relic density of DM from WMAP measurements of the cosmic microwave background. This has stimulated numerous searches for DM which have reached a level of sensitivity where a discovery can be expected and has fuelled theoretical speculations on the nature of the DM. The favoured explanation for DM from the particle physics point of view is to postulate a new particle. It is intriguing that extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of electroweak and strong interactions, invented to solve problems such as the gauge hierarchy problem, often predict neutral stable and weakly interacting new particles, which are excellent DM candidates. Superweakly interacting particles can also describe the DM, while having very different signatures. Identifying the DM amongst the plethora of candidates all with their peculiar collider and astrophysics phenomenology, has thus become one of the central problems in particle physics today. The year 2012 is expected to be a turning point for DM searches with the large experimental effort in place to corner the DM from different perspectives : 1) First the LHC is successfully taking data and searches for the DM is one of its priorities. The recent hints of a Higgs signal as well as results from searches for physics beyond the SM (BSM) constrain DM models. Discoveries of new particles predicted in extensions of the SM would allow to test models of new physics (NP) and thus the nature of DM. 2) Indirect searches that observe the decay products of dark matter annihilation into standard particles in the Galactic center or celestial bodies have already given hints of anomalies. The measurements of the photon or antimatter spectra will be pursued and refined with PAMELA, Fermi, HESS and AMS-02. Furthermore neutrino telescopes (ANTARES, ICECUBE) will also examine neutrino signatures that could originate from DM annihilation in the Galactic Center or capture in the Sun. 3) Direct DM searches which probe DM interactions with nuclei in large detectors are continuing to track the DM with detectors with an ever increasing volume and sensitivity. A signal would bring conclusive evidence that some new particle indeed constitute the DM. 4) The PLANCK satellite launched in 2009 should bring a more precise determination of the parameters of the cosmological model including the DM relic density. Unravelling the nature of DM is a multidisciplinary issue involving particle and astroparticle collaboration associating theorists and experimentalists from these two communities. Our group has a unique expertise in developing tools for DM studies and simulations at colliders that encompass all observables for a variety of DM candidates. We are therefore in a pole position to exploit the wealth of data expected which will have tremendous impact on the identification of the DM candidate. One of the most important aspect of our project is the interplay between different detection modes, that is exploiting the information from colliders to refine predictions on DM in astroparticle and cosmology or vice-versa.