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arXiv · 2303.08666

Search for dark photon decays to $\mu^+\mu^-$ at NA62

NA62 Collaboration
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Abstract

The NA62 experiment at CERN, designed to study the ultra-rare decay $K^+ \to \pi^+\nu\overline{\nu}$, has also collected data in beam-dump mode. In this configuration, dark photons may be produced by protons dumped on an absorber and reach a decay volume beginning 80 m downstream. A search for dark photons decaying in flight to $\mu^+\mu^-$ pairs is reported, based on a sample of $1.4 \times 10^{17}$ protons on dump collected in 2021. No evidence for a dark photon signal is observed. A region of the parameter space is excluded at 90% CL, improving on previous experimental limits for dark photon masses between 215 and 550 MeV$/c^2$.

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NA62 Collaboration. 2023-03-15. Search for dark photon decays to $\mu^+\mu^-$ at NA62. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.08666

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