Search for events with one displaced vertex from long-lived neutral particles decaying into hadronic jets in the ATLAS muon spectrometer in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV

Abstract

A search for events with one displaced vertex from long-lived particles using data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is presented, using 140 fb${}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded in 2015-2018. The search employs techniques for reconstructing vertices of long-lived particles decaying into hadronic jets in the muon spectrometer displaced between 3 m and 14 m from the primary interaction vertex. The observed number of events is consistent with the expected background and limits for several benchmark signals are determined. A scalar-portal model and a Higgs-boson-portal baryogenesis model are considered. A dedicated analysis channel is employed to target Z-boson associated long-lived particle production, including an axion-like particle and a dark photon model. For the Higgs boson model, branching fractions above 1% are excluded at 95% confidence level for long-lived particle proper decay lengths ranging from 5 cm to 40 m. For the photo-phobic axion-like particle model considered, this search produces the strongest limits to date for proper decay lengths greater than $\mathcal{O}(10)$ cm.

arXiv comment58 pages in total, author list starting page 41, 18 figures, 10 tables, published in Phys. Rev. D 112 (2025) 092001. This version takes into account the changes published in Erratum Phys. Rev. D 114, 059901 (2026). All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/EXOT-2022-17

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