Supersymmetric dark matter in the NMSSM and E₆SSM

Abstract

Supersymmetric extensions of the standard model may resolve the outstanding dark matter problem by producing viable dark matter candidates, including a stable weakly interacting particle called a neutralino. The next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) is first explored with a scan of the parameter space for neutralino-hadron scattering using an updated value for the strange quark sigma commutator. This is followed by an extensive exploration of the parameter space of the E₆-inspired supersymmetric standard model (E₆SSM). It is demonstrated that this model still provides neutralino dark matter candidates that may be detected in the near-future by upcoming experiments, despite tightening experimental constraints.