Speaker
Alexander Wijangco
Description
Recently the CDMS collaboration has reported an excess of events in the
signal region of a search for dark matter scattering with Silicon nuclei.
Three events on an expected background of 0.4 have a significance of about
2 sigma, and it is premature to conclude that this is a signal of dark
matter. Nonetheless, it is important to examine the space of particle
theories capable of explaining this excess, to see what theories are
capable of explaining it, and how one might exclude it or find
corroborating evidence in other channels. We examine a simplified model
containing a scalar mediator particle, and find regions consistent with
the CDMS observations. Bounds from colliders put important restrictions on
the theory, but viable points, including points leading to the observed
thermal relic density, survive.
