Determining supersymmetric parameters with dark matter experiments

In this paper, we explore the ability of direct and indirect dark matter experiments to not only detect neutralino dark matter, but to constrain and measure the parameters of supersymmetry. In particular, we explore the relationship between the phenomenological quantities relevant to dark matter experiments, such as the neutralino annihilation and elastic scattering cross sections, and the underlying characteristics of the supersymmetric model, such as the values of mu (and the composition of the lightest neutralino), m(A) and tan beta. We explore a broad range of supersymmetric models and then focus on a smaller set of benchmark models. We find that by combining astrophysical observations with collider measurements, mu could plausibly be constrained more tightly than it can be from Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data alone. In models in the A-funnel region of parameter space, we find that dark matter experiments could potentially determine m(A) to roughly +/- 100 GeV, even when heavy neutral minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) Higgs bosons (A, H-1) cannot be observed at the LHC. The information provided by astrophysical experiments is often highly complementary to the information most easily ascertained at colliders.