Abstract
Hadronic showers transfer a relevant amount of their energy to electromagnetic subshowers. We show that the generation of "secondary" dark photons in these sub-showers is significant and typically dominates the production at low dark photon masses. The resulting dark photons are however substantially less energetic than the ones originating from mesons decay. We illustrate this point both semi-analytically and through Monte Carlo simulations. Existing limits on vector-mediator scenarios for light dark matter are updated with the inclusion of the new production processes.
Highlights
One of the most compelling empirical arguments to search for extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of elementary particles is the need to explain the nature of dark matter (DM)
In this work, starting from this observation, we have discussed for the first time the role of electrons- and positrons-induced processes in proton beam-dump experiments in relation to light dark matter (LDM) searches
We have shown that LDM production from shower induced electromagnetic processes, that was so far overlooked, must be accounted for to properly assess the sensitivity of forthcoming proton-beam dump experiments, and to derive limits on the LDM parameter space from the analysis of existing data
Summary
One of the most compelling empirical arguments to search for extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of elementary particles is the need to explain the nature of dark matter (DM). The experimental intensity frontier is currently extremely active, and many new experiments will start to take data during the course of the decade [11,32,33], making the accurate estimation of their potential reaches an important issue This is true for dark sector searches carried out at proton beam-dump experiments designed for neutrino physics [20,34], such as MiniBooNE [35], SBND [36], ICARUS [37] or DUNE [38], and for lower energy COHERENT [39,40], where the irreducible neutrino background calls for an even more careful evaluation of the expected LDM signal. IV, after briefly reviewing the main features of a representative set of proton beam-dump experiments, we present the corresponding exclusion limits and sensitivity curves, updated by including the new LDM production channels
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