Search for dark matter particles produced in association with the Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13~\mathrm{TeV}$

A search for dark matter (DM) particles is performed using events with a Higgs boson candidate and a large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $35.9~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The search is performed in five Higgs boson decay channels: a b quark-antiquark pair, a pair of $\tau$ leptons, a pair of photons, or a pair of W or Z bosons. No significant excesses over the expected standard model background are observed in any of the five channels. The results from the individual channels are combined to maximize the sensitivity of the search, which allows to set most stringent limits on DM production in the context of two benchmark simplified models. The results are further reinterpreted in terms of spin-independent DM-nucleon scattering cross section and compared to those from direct-detection DM experiments. This is the first search for DM particles produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of W or Z bosons, and the first combination based on five Higgs boson decay channels.