Wednesday 6 July 2016 

Speaker: Steve Worm (RAL/PPD)


Title: "Recent developments in the search for Dark Matter @ LHC" 

Abstract: The existence of "Dark Matter", as inferred from astronomical observations such as the rotation of galaxies and gravitational lensing, seems a pretty safe bet.  There is a good chance that a new, invisible (dark!) particle is responsible.  Dark Matter may constitute the majority of matter in our universe, but discovery has so far eluded the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).  Dedicated searches for Dark Matter are still in their infancy, using techniques and interpretations that are evolving rapidly.  I will present the results of searches for Dark Matter performed using data collected in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, and outline the latest topics discussed in meetings such as DM@LHC in Amsterdam and the Experimental Challenges for the LHC Run II in Santa Barbara.  I will discuss the techniques used to search for Dark Matter, the tools for interpretation of the results, and also the future prospects for discovery of these elusive particles.