Benchmarks for Dark Matter Searches at the LHC

We propose some scenarios to pursue dark matter searches at the LHC in a fairly model-independent way. The first benchmark case is dark matter co-annihilations with coloured particles (gluinos or squarks being special examples). We determine the masses that lead to the correct thermal relic density including, for the first time, strong Sommerfeld corrections taking into account colour decomposition. In the second benchmark case we consider dark matter that couples to SM particles via the Z or the Higgs. We determine the couplings allowed by present experiments and discuss future prospects. Finally we present the case of dark matter that freezes out via decays and apply our results to invisible Z and Higgs decays. © 2014 The Author(s).