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arXiv · 2310.08827

Probing axion-like particles at the Electron-Ion Collider

Reuven Balkin·Or Hen·Wenliang Li·Hongkai Liu·Teng Ma·Yotam Soreq·Mike Williams
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Abstract

The Electron-Ion Collider~(EIC), a forthcoming powerful high-luminosity facility, represents an exciting opportunity to explore new physics. In this article, we study the potential of the EIC to probe the coupling between axion-like particles~(ALPs) and photons in coherent scattering. The ALPs can be produced via photon fusion and decay back to two photons inside the EIC detector. In a prompt-decay search, we find that the EIC can set the most stringent bound for $m_a \lesssim 20\,\GeV$ and probe the effective scales $\Lambda \lesssim 10^{5}\,$GeV. In a displaced-vertex search, which requires adopting an EM calorimeter technology that provides directionality, the EIC could probe ALPs with $m_a \lesssim 1\,\GeV$ at effective scales $\Lambda \lesssim 10^{7}\,\GeV$. Combining the two search strategies, the EIC can probe a significant portion of unexplored parameter space in the $0.2 < m_a <20\,\GeV$ mass range.

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Reuven Balkin, Or Hen, Wenliang Li, Hongkai Liu, Teng Ma, Yotam Soreq, Mike Williams. 2023-10-13. Probing axion-like particles at the Electron-Ion Collider. https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.08827

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