Dark matter phenomenology of SM and enlarged Higgs sectors extended with vector-like leptons

We will investigate the scenario in which the Standard Model (SM) Higgs sector and its two-doublet extension (called the Two Higgs Doublet Model or 2HDM) are the “portal” for the interactions between the Standard Model and a fermionic Dark Matter (DM) candidate. The latter is the lightest stable neutral particle of a family of vector-like leptons (VLLs). We will provide an extensive overview of this scenario combining the constraints coming purely from DM phenomenology with more general constraints like Electroweak Precision Test (EWPT) as well as with collider searches. In the case that the new fermionic sector interacts with the SM Higgs sector, constraints from DM phenomenology force the new states to lie above the TeV scale. This requirement is relaxed in the case of 2HDM. Nevertheless, strong constraints coming from EWPTs and the Renormalization Group Equations (RGEs) limit the impact of VLFs on collider phenomenology. © 2017, The Author(s).