We propose that dark matter is composed of particles that naturally have the correct thermal relic density, but have neither weak-scale masses nor weak interactions. These models emerge naturally from gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, where they elegantly solve the dark-matter problem. The framework accommodates single or multiple component dark matter, dark-matter masses from 10 MeV to 10 TeV, and interaction strengths from gravitational to strong. These candidates enhance many direct and indirect signals relative to weakly interacting massive particles and have qualitatively new implications for dark-matter searches and cosmological implications for colliders.

We describe the scenario of WIMPless dark matter. In this scenario of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, a dark matter candidate in the hidden sector is found to naturally have approximately the right relic density to explain astronomical dark matter observations, but with a wide range of possible masses.

We consider models of xenophobic dark matter, in which isospin-violating dark matter-nucleon interactions significantly degrade the response of xenon direct detection experiments. For models of near-maximal xenophobia, with neutron-to-proton coupling ratio fn/fp≈-0.64, and dark matter mass near 8 GeV, the regions of interest for CoGeNT and CDMS-Si and the region of interest identified by Collar and Fields in CDMS-Ge data can be brought into agreement. This model may be tested in future direct, indirect, and collider searches. Interestingly, because the natural isotope abundance of xenon implies that xenophobia has its limits, we find that this xenophobic model may be probed in the near future by xenon experiments. Near-future data from the LHC and Fermi-LAT may also provide interesting alternative probes of xenophobic dark matter. © 2013 American Physical Society.

We determine the prospects for finding dark matter at the Tevatron and LHC through the production of exotic fourth-generation mirror quarks T ′ that decay through T′→tX, where X is dark matter. The resulting signal of tt̄+ET has not previously been considered in searches for fourth-generation quarks, but there are both general and specific dark matter motivations for this signal, and with slight modifications, this analysis applies to any scenario where invisible particles are produced in association with top quarks. Current direct and indirect bounds on such exotic quarks restrict their masses to be between 300 and 600 GeV, and the dark matter's mass may be anywhere below mT′. We simulate the signal and main backgrounds with MadGraph/MadEvent-Pythia-PGS4. For the Tevatron, we find that an integrated luminosity of 20fb-1 will allow 3σ discovery up to mT′=400GeV and 95% exclusion up to mT′=455GeV. For the 10 TeV LHC with 300pb-1, the discovery and exclusion sensitivities rise to 490 GeV and 600 GeV. These scenarios are therefore among the most promising for dark matter at colliders. Perhaps most interestingly, we find that dark matter models that can explain results from the DAMA, CDMS, and CoGeNT collaborations can be tested with high statistical significance using data already collected at the Tevatron and have extraordinarily promising implications for early runs of the LHC. © 2010 The American Physical Society.

Isospin-violating dark matter (IVDM) generalizes the standard spin-independent scattering parameter space by introducing one additional parameter, the neutron-to-proton coupling ratio f_n/f_p. In IVDM the implications of direct detection experiments can be altered significantly. We review the motivations for considering IVDM and present benchmark models that illustrate some of the qualitatively different possibilities. IVDM strongly motivates the use of a variety of target nuclei in direct detection experiments.

We explore the discovery prospects for B′B̄′ pair production followed by direct decays B′→bX, where B′ is a new quark and X is a long-lived neutral particle. We develop optimized cuts in the (mB′,mX) plane and show that the 7 TeV LHC with an integrated luminosity of 1(10)fb-1 may exclude masses up to m B′∼620(800)GeV, completely covering the mass range allowed for new quarks that get mass from electroweak symmetry breaking. This analysis is applicable to other models with bb̄E□T signals, including supersymmetric models with bottom squarks decaying directly to neutralinos, and models with exotic quarks decaying directly to GeV-scale dark matter. To accommodate these and other interpretations, we also present model-independent results for the bb̄E□T cross section required for exclusion and discovery. © 2011 American Physical Society.

WIMPless dark matter provides a framework in which dark matter particles with a wide range of masses naturally have the correct thermal relic density. We show that WIMPless dark matter with mass around 2-10 GeV can explain the annual modulation observed by the DAMA experiment without violating the constraints of other dark matter searches. This explanation implies distinctive and promising signals for other direct detection experiments, GLAST, and the LHC. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Searches for dark matter scattering off nuclei are typically compared assuming that the dark matter's spin-independent couplings are identical for protons and neutrons. This assumption is neither innocuous nor well motivated. We consider isospin-violating dark matter (IVDM) with one extra parameter, the ratio of neutron to proton couplings, and include the isotope distribution for each detector. For a single choice of the coupling ratio, the DAMA and CoGeNT signals are consistent with each other and with current XENON constraints, and they unambiguously predict near future signals at XENON and CRESST. We provide a quark-level realization of IVDM as WIMPless dark matter that is consistent with all collider and low-energy bounds. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.