1)      Complete and precise computation of the relic density of dark matter in different models of new physics (Supersymmetry, extra-dimensions, little Higgs). The goal is to match the accuracy of PLANCK (<3%). This requires computation of one-loop corrections to some of the dominant processes for DM annihilation.  A task that has never been addressed so far.

2)      Development and improvements of tools for the predictions of signals from indirect detection of DM annihilation into photons, antiprotons, positrons, neutrinos and anti-deuterons in different models. Potential of astroparticle experiments (AMS, HESS, GLAST...) to probe various scenarios of New Physics and differentiate between them taking into account different astrophysical hypotheses such as the distribution of DM.

3)      Development of tools for analysis of signal and background to new particles production at colliders (LHC, ILC). Interpretation of signals and extraction of fundamental parameters of the New Physics model.

4)      Strategies to correlate between DM signals in astroparticle, cosmology and colliders. Constraints on models and exploiting the information from colliders to refine predictions on dark matter in astroparticle and cosmology and/or vice-versa.

The core of the project is as precise a determination as possible of the microscopic properties of New Physics, in particular that which constitutes or is related to Dark Matter.  We therefore plan to further develop, improve and generalise micrOMEGAs, the first complete and accurate public code for the calculation of the relic density in the Minimal Supersymetric Standard Model, MSSM. This code has been completed thanks to the use of sophisticated computer-aided techniques for automatic calculations of a large number of cross sections. A major objective of this project is to extend micrOMEGAs to other models of New Physics, in particular models with extra dimensions and Little Higgs models. Moreover, the code shall provide cross sections for the LHC and ILC, as well as the cross sections relevant for indirect detection of DM. For the latter, we need to implement hadronisation and decay of the products of DM annihilation, final state radiation as well as the propagation of anti-protons and positrons. To this aim the astroparticle theorists of the collaboration are working on a global simulation tool (CRAC) for γ rays, pbar, e+ and neutrinos, with a plan of incorporating anti-deuterons. An important aspect in this regard is the possibility to choose between different DM distributions and in particular critically gauge the issue of clumps.

Second, we aim at a more precise determination of the microscopic DM properties in the context of supersymmetry. We will pursue the development of SloopS, an automatic code for the calculation at one-loop of any process in the MSSM. This general one-loop treatment is very challenging, requiring a coherent renormalisation programme. An independent code dealing with QCD corrections to neutralino annihilation is also being developed and will aid for cross checks. This will eventually enable a precision calculation of the relic density of a SUSY DM candidate on a par with the accuracy expected from PLANCK. It will also permit to confront some of the supersymmetric precision cross sections at colliders.

The third important part of the project revolves around the determination of properties of new particles at colliders within the context of SUSY as well as other models of New Physics. We plan to exploit the tools we have been developping to work out the collider phenomenology of DM candidates originating from New Physics. We also plan to extend and improve the code SFitter in order to perform global analyses for the LHC and ILC by making fits to various (discriminating) observables, including also information and constraints from cosmological experiments. This will require the joint effort of a team of theorists and experimentalists.

We feel that the importance and impact of such global codes for unified analyses has yet to be appreciated. For example, if future colliders discover SUSY particles and probe their properties, one could predict the dark matter density and would constrain  cosmology with the help of precision data provided by WMAP and PLANCK. It would be highly exciting if the precision reconstruction of the relic density from observables at the colliders does not match PLANCK's determination: this would mean that the post-inflation era is most probably not radiation dominated. The same collider data on the microscopic properties of DM when put against a combination of data from direct/indirect detection can also give strong constraints on the astrophysical properties of DM such as its distribution and clustering that reveal much about galaxy formation. 

The project will be carried by a collaboration between members of LAPP, LAPTH (Annecy), LPSC (Grenoble) and IAP (Paris). The teams have a proven track record in the different aspects of the project. Indeed, the members from the  LAPP experimental teams are heavily implicated in collider physics (LHC-ILC) and astroparticle physics (AMS-HESS) and have been a driving force in data analysis and simulations (LEP, Babar). The astrophysicists of LAPTH and IAP draw from a recognised astrophysics team heavily involved in indirect signals of Dark Matter with sophisticated codes for the propagation of cosmic ray anti-protons and positrons. They are also known for some seminal contributions, most recently to the subject of DM overdensities (clumps, intermediate mass black holes). A member of the LPSC team working on direct detection (MIMAC) completes our astrophysics task force. The particle physicists of LAPTH an LPSC  have conducted some of the most complex calculations in the standard model and supersymmetry. They are also heavily involved in DM studies (through the code micrOMEGAs code, for example) and where among the first to work on the DM-Collider connection. Most of these feats would not have been possible were it not for the exploitation of automated codes for the SM and the New Physics. Automation will hence be at the heart of our project. Combined with the expertise and the complementarity of the teams we believe that such an ambitious and original project will be brought to fruition if these teams are strengthened.