Search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of W bosons at CMS

The results of a search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson are presented. The analysis is based on the data collected in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in proton-proton collisions with the CMS detector at the LHC, for a total integrated luminosity of 35.9 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. A two-Higgs-doublet model and a baryonic Z′ model are used as benchmark. After the final selection, no significant evidence for dark matter particle production has been observed. Two-Higgs-doublet-Z′ signals with a pseudo scalar mass up to 800 GeV are excluded at 95% of CL for a Z′of mass between 1 TeV and 3 TeV. For the baryonic Z′model, Z′mediator masses up to 1.5 TeV and dark matter particle masses up to 420 GeV are excluded. The results are also reinterpreted in terms of spin-independent interaction cross-section between dark matter and nuclei, excluding values larger than $10^{-42} \mathrm{cm}^2$ for light dark matter particles.