Probing axion-like particles with $\gamma \gamma$ final states from vector boson fusion processes at the LHC

Abstract

We perform a feasibility study to search for axion-like particles (ALPs) using vector boson fusion (VBF) processes at the LHC. We work in an effective field theory framework with cutoff scale $\Lambda$ and ALP mass $m_a$, and assume that ALPs couple to photons with strength $\propto 1/\Lambda$. Assuming proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, we present the total VBF ALP production cross sections, ALP decay widths and lifetimes, and relevant kinematic distributions as a function of $m_a$ and $\Lambda$. We consider the $a\to \gamma \gamma$ decay mode to show that the requirement of an energetic diphoton pair combined with two forward jets with large dijet mass and pseudorapidity separation can significantly reduce the Standard Model backgrounds, leading to a $5\sigma$ discovery reach for $10\text{ MeV}\lesssim m_a\lesssim 1$ TeV with $\Lambda \lesssim 2$ TeV, assuming an integrated luminosity of 3000 fb${}^{-1}$. In particular, this extends the LHC sensitivity to a previously unstudied region of the ALP parameter space.

9 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (11)

• Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
• The automated computation of tree-level and next-to-leading order differential cross sections, and their matching to parton shower simulations
• An Introduction to PYTHIA 8.2
• Comparative study of various algorithms for the merging of parton showers and matrix elements in hadronic collisions
• Search for high-mass dilepton resonances in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Vector Boson Fusion Processes as a Probe of Supersymmetric Electroweak Sectors at the LHC
• Probing Compressed Sleptons at the LHC using Vector Boson Fusion Processes
• Expanding the Reach of Heavy Neutrino Searches at the LHC
• Searching for New Heavy Neutral Gauge Bosons using Vector Boson Fusion Processes at the LHC
• Probing Heavy Spin-2 Bosons with $\gamma \gamma$ final states from Vector Boson Fusion Processes at the LHC
• Search for exotic decays at NA62

Cited by in corpus (19)

• Conceptual Design Report for the LUXE Experiment
• Ultralight bosons for strong gravity applications from simple Standard Model extensions
• Nonresonant Searches for Axion-Like Particles in Vector Boson Scattering Processes at the LHC
• Electroweak ALP Searches at a Muon Collider
• Searching for the axion-like particle at the EIC
• Production of axion-like particles via vector boson fusion at future electron-positron colliders
• Unitarity constraints on ALP interactions
• Electroweak precision test of axion-like particles
• Challenges for a QCD Axion at the 10 MeV Scale
• A new calculation of semi-exclusive axion-like particle production at the LHC
• Quark flavor violation and axion-like particles from top-quark decays at the LHC
• Light Axion-Like Particles at Future Lepton Colliders
• Axion-Like Particles at future $e^{-}p$ collider
• Probing a ${\mathrm{Z}}^{\prime }$ with non-universal fermion couplings through top quark fusion, decays to bottom quarks, and machine learning techniques
• Sensitivity of the future ${\mathbf{e}}^{-}\mathbf{p}$ collider to the coupling of axion-like particles with vector bosons
• Exploring the phenomenology of weak adjoint scalars in minimal $R$-symmetric models
• Probing Light Scalars and Vector-like Quarks at the High-Luminosity LHC
• Probing Compressed Mass Spectrum Supersymmetry at the LHC with the Vector Boson Fusion Topology
• Probing new physics at the LHC with $\mathrm{b}\tau \nu$ final states