Probing long-lived axions at the KOTO experiment

Abstract

While the main goal of the J-PARC KOTO experiment is to measure the rare decay $K_L\to {\pi }^0\nu \bar{\nu }$, the unique setup of KOTO raises the possibility to search for physics beyond the Standard Model, in an attempt to probe parts of the parameter space which are not covered by other experiments. In this paper, we test the possibility of using KOTO to search for heavy QCD axions, or axion-like particles, a well-motivated extension of the Standard Model emerging in a variety of models. In particular, we estimate the sensitivity of the current KOTO setup as well as the KOTO Step-2 for various benchmark scenarios of axion coupling to the Standard Model. We find that KOTO Step-2 can probe new regions in the parameter space, while KOTO with its current form can only reaffirm the existing bounds. The obtained axion datasets are available as an update of the public code of the ALPINIST framework, including implementation of KOTO setups in the simulation, allowing for interpretation of various analyses as searches for axions in custom models.

9 pages + appendices, 6 figures, ALPINIST code available at https://github.com/jjerhot/ALPINIST/ v2: fix bug in the production from secondary mesons, main conclusions are unchanged

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Measurement of the $K^{+}\to {\pi }^{+}\gamma \gamma$ decay
• Advancing the phenomenology of GeV-scale axion-like particles
• Searching for heavy neutral leptons coupled to axion-like particles at the LHC far detectors and SHiP
• Search for hadronic decays of feebly-interacting particles at NA62
• Searching for axions with kaon decay at rest
• On the impact of heavy meson production spectra on searches for heavy neutral leptons
• New Bounds on Heavy QCD Axions from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Concurrent Exploration of Axion-Like Particle Interactions with Gauge Bosons at the LHC
• Sweeping the pion chimney for axion-like particles with KOTO