Searching for Dark Matter with the CMS Detector

Abstract

Evidence of the existence of dark matter is provided by astrophysical observations at different scales. Although no direct information about dark matter properties or its non-gravitational interactions is yet available, potential interactions between dark matter and standard model particles are well motivated theoretically. These interactions provide a tantalizing possibility for dark matter discovery at colliders, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where dark matter can be produced in proton-proton collisions. The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is a general purpose detector located in one of the several interaction points of the LHC. The CMS experiment aims at answering fundamental open questions in particle physics, such as the nature of dark matter, investigating its possible properties and production mechanisms. In this chapter, a selection of the searches performed by the CMS collaboration are presented to highlight some of the different techniques and theoretical frameworks employed in the hunt for dark matter.