Search for light long-lived particles in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using displaced vertices in the ATLAS inner detector

Abstract

A search for long-lived particles (LLPs) using 140 fb${}^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data with $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC is presented. The search targets LLPs with masses between $5$ and $55$ GeV that decay hadronically in the ATLAS inner detector. Benchmark models with LLP pair production from exotic decays of the Higgs boson and models featuring long-lived axion-like particles (ALPs) are considered. No significant excess above the expected background is observed. Upper limits are placed on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to pairs of LLPs, the cross-section for ALPs produced in association with a vector boson, and, for the first time, on the branching ratio of the top quark to an ALP and a $u/c$ quark.

35 pages in total, author list starting page 18, 6+3aux figures, 0+2aux tables, published on: Phys. Rev. Lett. 133 (2024) 161803. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at the link https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/EXOT-2021-32 . Corrections to two figures are noted in the erratum: Phys. Rev. Lett. 135 (2025) 259901

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