Particles with a sub-millimeter decay length appear in many models of physics beyond the Standard Model. However, their longevity has been often ignored in their LHC searches and they have been regarded as promptly-decaying particles. In this letter, we show that, by requiring displaced vertices on top of the event selection criteria used in the ordinary search strategies for promptly-decaying particles, we can considerably extend the LHC reach for particles with a decay length of $\gtrsim 100~μ{\rm m}$. We discuss a way of reconstructing sub-millimeter displaced vertices by exploiting the same technique used for the primary vertex reconstruction on the assumption that the metastable particles are always pair-produced and their decay products contain high-$p_{\rm T}$ jets. We show that, by applying a cut based on displaced vertices on top of standard kinematical cuts for the search of new particles, the LHC reach can be significantly extended if the decay length is $\gtrsim 100~μ{\rm m}$. In addition, we may measure the lifetime of the target particle through the reconstruction of displaced vertices, which plays an important role in understanding the new physics behind the metastable particles.
A variety of new-physics models predict metastable particles whose decay length is $\lesssim 1$ mm. Conventional displaced-vertex searches are less sensitive to this sub-millimeter decay range, and thus such metastable particles have been looked for only in usual prompt decay searches. In this paper, we show that an additional event-selection cut based on the vertex reconstruction using charged tracks considerably improves the sensitivity of ordinary searches which rely only on kinematic selection criteria, for particles with a decay length of $\gtrsim 100$ $μ\text{m}$. To that end, we conside…
Long-lived particles can manifest themselves at the LHC via "displaced vertices" - several charged tracks originating from a position separated from the proton interaction point by a macroscopic distance. Here we demonstrate a potential of the muon trackers at the CMS experiment for displaced vertex searches. We use heavy neutral leptons and Chern-Simons portal as two examples of long-lived particles for which the CMS muon tracker can provide essential information about their properties.
If light new physics with lepton-flavor-violating couplings exists, the prime discovery channel might not be $\ell\to\ell'γ$ but rather $\ell\to\ell' X$, where the new boson $X$ could be an axion, majoron, familon or Z' gauge boson. The most conservative bound then comes from $\ell\to\ell'+\mathrm{inv}$, but if the on-shell $X$ can decay back into leptons or photons, displaced-vertex searches could give much better limits. We show that only a narrow region in parameter space allows for displaced vertices in muon decays, $μ\to e X, X\to γγ, ee$, whereas tauon decays can have much more interesti…
We propose a program at B-factories of inclusive, multi-track displaced vertex searches, which are expected to be low background and give excellent sensitivity to non-minimal hidden sectors. Multi-particle hidden sectors often include long-lived particles (LLPs) which result from approximate symmetries, and we classify the possible decays of GeV-scale LLPs in an effective field theory framework. Considering several LLP production modes, including dark photons and dark Higgs bosons, we study the sensitivity of LLP searches with different number of displaced vertices per event and track requirem…
Searching Dark Photons using displaced vertices at Belle II -- with backgrounds
Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University（海德堡大学理论物理研究所）；Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics, Radboud University（拉德堡德大学数学、天体物理学和粒子物理研究所）；Nikhef（荷兰国家核子和亚原子物理研究所）
In the context of Left-Right symmetry, we revisit the Keung-Senjanović production of right-handed $W_R$ bosons and heavy neutrinos $N$ at high energy colliders. We develop a multi-binned sensitivity measure and use it to estimate the sensitivity for the entire range of $N$ masses, spanning the standard and merged prompt signals, displaced vertices and the invisible $N$ region. The estimated sensitivity of the LHC with 300/fb integrated luminosity ranges from 5 to beyond 7 TeV, while the future 33(100) TeV collider's reach with 3/ab extends to 12(26) TeV.
We consider the phenomenology of glueball production and decay in theories with hidden glue. We focus on the case of folded supersymmetry (FSUSY) , where there is an unbroken $SU(3)$ gauge theory in the absence of light matter, leading to the formation of glueballs. We study their production through the annihilation of folded squarks into hidden gluons at the LHC, and model their fragmentation into glueballs. We obtain the distribution of displaced vertices, which is directly determined by the folded squark mass scale. Although here we specifically apply it to FSUSY, the procedure to model the…
We propose a simple way to extract particle masses given a displaced vertex signature in event topologies where two long-lived mother particles decay to visible particles and an invisible daughter. The mother could be either charged or neutral and the neutral daughter could correspond to a dark matter particle in different models. The method allows to extract the parent and daughter masses by using on-shell conditions and energy-momentum conservation, in addition to the displaced decay positions of the parents, which allows to solve the kinematic equations fully on an event-by-event basis. We …
We study discovery prospects for long-lived sterile neutrinos at the LHC with multitrack displaced vertices, with masses below the electroweak scale. We reinterpret current displaced vertex searches making use of publicly available, parametrized selection efficiencies for modeling the detector response to displaced vertices. We focus on production of right-handed $W_{R}$ bosons and neutrinos $N$ in a left-right symmetric model, and find poor sensitivity. After proposing a different trigger strategy (considering the prompt lepton accompanying the neutrino displaced vertex) and optimized cuts in…
Displaced vertices are relatively unusual signatures for dark matter searches at the LHC. We revisit the model of pseudo-Dirac dark matter (pDDM), which can accommodate the correct relic density, evade direct detection constraints, and generically provide observable collider signatures in the form of displaced vertices. We use this model as a benchmark to illustrate the general techniques involved in the analysis, the complementarity between monojet and displaced vertex searches, and provide a comprehensive study of the current bounds and prospective reach.
We investigate the reach at the LHC to probe light sterile neutrinos with displaced vertices. We focus on sterile neutrinos $N$ with masses $m_{N} \sim $ (5-30) GeV, that are produced in rare decays of the Standard Model gauge bosons and decay inside the inner trackers of the LHC detectors. With a strategy that triggers on the prompt lepton accompanying the $N$ displaced vertex and considers charged tracks associated to it, we show that the 13 TeV LHC with $3000$/fb is able to probe active-sterile neutrino mixings down to $|V_{lN}|^2\approx 10^{-9}$, with $l=e,μ$, which is an improvement of up…
Many models of new physics beyond the Standard Model are able to describe massive, long-lived particles with macroscopic decays, which can be reconstructed as displaced vertices inside the inner trackers of the LHC experiments. In addition, the lack of evidence of any new physics at the LHC motivates to perform more unconventional searches, such as looking for displaced vertices. I comment on the 13 TeV LHC reach with a proposed multitrack displaced vertex search strategy to probe light sterile neutrinos. Limits on active-sterile neutrino mixing are presented.
Heavy Neutral Leptons are naturally present in many well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model. If their mass is of few dozens of GeVs, they can be long-lived and lead to events with displaced vertices, giving rise to promising signatures due to the low background. We revisit the opportunities offered by the LHC to discover these long-lived states via searches with displaced vertices. We study in particular the implication on the parameter space sensitivity when all mixings to active flavors are taken into account.
We study the LHC phenomenology of the next-to-minimal model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (NMGMSB), both for Run I and Run II. The Higgs phenomenology of the model is consistent with observations: a 125 GeV Standard Model-like Higgs which mixes with singlet-like state of mass around 90 GeV that provides a 2$σ$ excess at LEP II. The model possesses regions of parameter space where a longer-lived lightest neutralino decays in the detector into a gravitino and a $b-$jet pair or a tau pair. We investigate current lower bounds on sparticle masses and the discovery potential of the model,…
A cluster of soft displaced tracks corresponds to the dark matter co-annihilation regime. The long-lived regime is, in particular, motivated by the unexplored top partner physics. The background in this regime is extremely challenging to model using a traditional simulation method. We demonstrate the feasibility of handling the formidable background using the CMS Open Data. We perform this analysis to search for compressed and long-lived top partners in the 8 TeV CMS Open Data events with the integrated luminosity of 11.6 fb$^{-1}$ and obtain new limits. With 15-30 GeV mass splitting between t…
Heavy neutral leptons are present in many well-motivated beyond the Standard Model theories, sometimes being accessible at present colliders. Depending on their masses and couplings they could be long-lived and lead to events with displaced vertices, and thus to promising signatures due to low Standard Model background. We revisit the potential of the LHC to discover this kind of new particles via searches for displaced vertices, which can probe masses of few GeV for mixings currently allowed by experimental constraints. We also discuss the importance of considering all the possible production…
We propose a systematic programme to search for long-lived neutral particle signatures through a minimal set of displaced searches requiring significant missing transverse energy (dMETs). Our approach is to extend the well-established dark matter simplified models to include displaced vertices. The dark matter simplified models are used to describe the primary production vertex. A displaced secondary vertex, characterised by the mass of the long-lived particle and its lifetime, is added for the displaced signature. We show how these models can be motivated by, and mapped onto, complete models …
We explore the sensitivity of displaced vertex searches at LHCb for testing sterile neutrino extensions of the Standard Model towards explaining the observed neutrino masses. We derive estimates for the constraints on sterile neutrino parameters from a recently published displaced vertex search at LHCb based on run 1 data. They yield the currently most stringent limit on active-sterile neutrino mixing in the sterile neutrino mass range between 4.5 GeV and 10 GeV. Furthermore, we present forecasts for the sensitivities that could be obtained from the run 2 data and also for the high-luminosity …
We study displaced signatures of sneutrino pairs potentially emerging at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in a Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model supplemented with right-handed neutrinos triggering a Type-I seesaw mechanism. We show how such signatures can be established through a heavy Higgs portal in the presence of both leptonic and hadronic decays of the sneutrinos. We finally illustrate how the Yukawa parameters of the latter can be extracted from fitting kinematical quantities pertaining to the corresponding two displaced vertices, thereby characterising the dynamics of the und…
Probing $ν$SMEFT at Belle II with displaced dilepton vertices
Jožef Stefan Institute（约热普夫斯特凡研究所）；Charles University Prague（布拉格查理大学）；Silesian University in Opava（奥帕瓦西里西亚大学）；University of Zagreb（萨格勒布大学）；University of Graz（格拉茨大学）；Tel Aviv University（特拉维夫大学）
Low-scale models of neutrino mass generation often feature sterile neutrinos with masses in the GeV-TeV range, which can be produced at colliders through their mixing with the Standard Model neutrinos. We consider an alternative scenario in which the sterile neutrino is produced in the decay of a heavier particle, such that its production cross section does not depend on the active-sterile neutrino mixing angles. The mixing angles can be accessed through the decays of the sterile neutrino, provided that they lead to observable displaced vertices. We present an explicit realization of this scen…
We investigate the sensitivity of future lepton colliders to displaced vertices from the decays of long-lived heavy (almost sterile) neutrinos with electroweak scale masses and detectable time of flight. As future lepton colliders we consider the FCC-ee, the CEPC, and the ILC, searching at the Z-pole and at the center-of-mass energies of 240, 350 and 500 GeV. For a realistic discussion of the detector response to the displaced vertex signal and the Standard Model background we consider the ILC's Silicon Detector (SiD) as benchmark for the future lepton collider detectors. We find that displace…
Extensions beyond the Standard Model allow for a gauge singlet scalar to be kinetically coupled with the Higgs. We consider kinetic mixing between a Dark scalar gauge singlet \emph{nearly degenerate} with the Higgs, focusing on the \emph{dynamical} aspects of the mixing phenomena. The renormalization program is carried out by obtaining the one-loop effective action which yields an effective non-hermitian Hamiltonian to study the dynamics of mixing. The scalar Higgs becomes a coherent superposition of the mass eigenstates, thus kinetic mixing leads to oscillations and common decay channels in s…
We study the LHC sensitivity to probe a long-lived heavy neutrino $N$ in the context of $Z'$ models. We focus on displaced vertex signatures of $N$ when pair produced via a $Z'$, decaying to leptons and jets inside the inner trackers of the LHC experiments. We explore the LHC reach with current long-lived particle search strategies for either one or two displaced vertices in association with hadronic tracks or jets. We focus on two well-motivated models, namely, the minimal $U(1)_{B-L}$ scenario and its $U(1)_{X}$ extension. We find that searches for at least one displaced vertex can cover a s…
Dilepton events with displaced vertices, double beta decay, and resonant leptogenesis with Type-II seesaw dominance, TeV scale $Z'$ and heavy neutrinos
在最近提出的一类II型跷跷板主导的$SO(10)$模型中，重中微子，额外的$Z'$玻色子和共振细生，首先，我们证明了介导无中微子双β衰变的最轻的第一代无菌中微子也产生了位移顶点，导致可验证的同号双电子以及双电子。LHC探测器外的μ子产生事件具有抑制的标准模型背景和丢失的能量。在这种情况下，共振薄生是由一对质量为${\cal O}(500)$ GeV的第二代和第三代准简并无菌中微子实现的。然后，我们预测了一个新的替代方案，该模型允许第二代不育中微子质量为${\cal O}(10)$ GeV，能够介导主导的双β衰变以及位移的顶点显着提高的数量在不同的通道中的同号双轻子事件。共振leptogenesis在这种替代方案是介导的一对重准简并不育中微子质量的第一和第三代。除了QD型轻中微子的质量等级，我们还展示了这些结果是如何得出的NH的情况下。我们还讨论了在LHC的$\sqrt s =14 $ TeV运行II和ILC上的$Z'$产生截面。虽然轻子味违反分支比只比目前的实验界限小几到四个数量级，但质子寿命的预测是可以通过正在进行的超级K来实现的。或者Hyper K搜索.
The recent discovery, by the LHCb collaboration, of the $Ξ_{cc}^{++}$ doubly charmed baryon, has renewed interest in the spectroscopy of doubly heavy hadrons. Experimentally, however, searches for such states appear highly challenging. The reconstructed final states tend to involve multiple heavy flavoured (beauty or charm) hadrons, so the yield for any exclusive decay mode will be suppressed to unobservably low levels by the product of several branching fractions, each of which is typically $10^{-3}$--$10^{-2}$. Noting that decays of double beauty hadrons are the only possible source of $B_c^…
In this paper, we point out a novel signature of physics beyond the Standard Model which could potentially be observed both at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and at future colliders. This signature, which emerges naturally within many proposed extensions of the Standard Model, results from the multiple displaced vertices associated with the successive decays of unstable, long-lived particles along the same decay chain. We call such a sequence of displaced vertices a "tumbler." We examine the prospects for observing tumblers at the LHC and assess the extent to which tumbler signatures can be d…
Displaced vertices at colliders, arising from the production and decay of long-lived particles, probe dark matter candidates produced via freeze-in. If one assumes a standard cosmological history, these decays happen inside the detector only if the dark matter is very light because of the relic density constraint. Here, we argue how displaced events could very well point to freeze-in within a non-standard early universe history. Focusing on the cosmology of inflationary reheating, we explore the interplay between the reheating temperature and collider signatures for minimal freeze-in scenarios…
We examine the observability of heavy neutrino (nu_h) signatures of a U(1)' enlarged Standard Model (SM) encompassing three heavy Majorana neutrinos alongside the known light neutrino states at the the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We show that heavy neutrinos can be rather long-lived particles producing distinctive displaced vertices that can be accessed in the CERN LHC detectors. We concentrate here on the gluon fusion production mechanism gg -> H_{1,2} -> nu_h nu_h, where H_1 is the discovered SM-like Higgs and H_2 is a heavier state, yielding displaced leptons following nu_h decays into wea…
