Supersymmetry and Dark Matter in the Data Age

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This award funds the research activities of Professor Pearl Sandick at the University of Utah.There are several compelling reasons to expect that our current Standard Model of particle physics is incomplete, not least of which is the puzzle of the nature of the dark matter in the Universe. Professor Sandick's research involves theoretical investigations of supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics, in which each Standard Model particle has an as-yet unobserved "superpartner" particle. Even in the most minimal supersymmetric models, the lightest of these superpartners provides a natural explanation for the dark matter. Currently, experiments are becoming sensitive to interesting observable phenomena predicted in many supersymmetric models. Taken together, experimental results from dark matter searches and particle colliders provide insight about the fundamental theory of particle physics that describes the world in which we live, but conclusions about whether a particular theory is excluded or supported by data rely on a robust understanding of its observable signatures.Professor Sandick aims to improve our understanding of minimal supersymmetric parameter spaces by making explicit connections between experimental signatures and the aspects of particle physics models necessary to generate them. As part of this project, extensive studies of the consequences of different types of model complexity will be performed, highlighting the lessons we can learn about the characteristics of new models of particle physics from dark matter experiments and particle colliders such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The main focus is on connecting collider signatures to the signatures in dark matter detection as well as astrophysical signatures from dark matter annihilation and/or decay. This work will advance the knowledge of specialists, and also represents an opportunity to harness the broad public enthusiasm for dark matter and particle physics to educate the public about exciting advances and the future of the field and to recruit talented women and minorities to the physical sciences. These broader impacts will be accomplished through a suite of outreach and professional development programs in which the PI is involved.