26 research outputs found
Prospects of searches for long-lived charged particles with MoEDAL
We study the prospects of searches for exotic long-lived particles with the
MoEDAL detector at the LHC, assuming the integrated luminosity of 30 fb
that is expected at the end of Run 3. MoEDAL incorporates nuclear track
detectors deployed a few metres away from the interaction point, which are
sensitive to any highly-ionizing particles. Hence MoEDAL is able to detect
singly- or doubly-charged particles with low velocities or , respectively, and lifetimes larger than . We
examine the MoEDAL sensitivity to various singly-charged supersymmetric
particles with long lifetimes and to several types of doubly-charged long-lived
particles with different spins and SU(2) charges. We compare the prospective
MoEDAL mass reaches to current limits from ATLAS and CMS, which involve
auxiliary analysis assumptions. MoEDAL searches for doubly-charged fermions are
particularly competitive.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure
Search for Magnetic Monopoles with the MoEDAL Forward Trapping Detector in 13 TeV Proton-Proton Collisions at the LHC
MoEDAL is designed to identify new physics in the form of long-lived highly ionizing particles produced in high-energy LHC collisions. Its arrays of plastic nuclear-track detectors and aluminium trapping volumes provide two independent passive detection techniques. We present here the results of a first search for magnetic monopole production in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions using the trapping technique, extending a previous publication with 8 TeV data during LHC Run 1. A total of 222 kg of MoEDAL trapping detector samples was exposed in the forward region and analyzed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges exceeding half the Dirac charge are excluded in all samples and limits are placed for the first time on the production of magnetic monopoles in 13 TeV pp collisions. The search probes mass ranges previously inaccessible to collider experiments for up to five times the Dirac charge.Peer reviewe
Magnetic Monopole Search with the Full MoEDAL Trapping Detector in 13 TeV pp Collisions Interpreted in Photon-Fusion and Drell-Yan Production
MoEDAL is designed to identify new physics in the form of stable or pseudostable highly ionizing particles produced in high-energy Large Hadron Collider (LHC) collisions. Here we update our previous search for magnetic monopoles in Run 2 using the full trapping detector with almost four times more material and almost twice more integrated luminosity. For the first time at the LHC, the data were interpreted in terms of photon-fusion monopole direct production in addition to the Drell-Yan-like mechanism. The MoEDAL trapping detector, consisting of 794 kg of aluminum samples installed in the forward and lateral regions, was exposed to 4.0 fb(-1) of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHCb interaction point and analyzed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges equal to or above the Dirac charge are excluded in all samples. Monopole spins 0, 1/2, and 1 are considered and both velocity-independent and-dependent couplings are assumed. This search provides the best current laboratory constraints for monopoles with magnetic charges ranging from two to five times the Dirac charge.Peer reviewe
MoEDAL search in the CMS beam pipe for magnetic monopoles produced via the Schwinger effect
We report on a search for magnetic monopoles (MMs) produced in ultraperipheral Pb-Pb collisions during Run 1 of the LHC. The beam pipe surrounding the interaction region of the CMS experiment was exposed to 184.07ââÎŒâąbâ1 of Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV center-of-mass energy per collision in December 2011, before being removed in 2013. It was scanned by the MoEDAL experiment using a SQUID magnetometer to search for trapped MMs. No MM signal was observed. The two distinctive features of this search are the use of a trapping volume very close to the collision point and ultrahigh magnetic fields generated during the heavy-ion run that could produce MMs via the Schwinger effect. These two advantages allowed setting the first reliable, world-leading mass limits on MMs with high magnetic charge. In particular, the established limits are the strongest available in the range between 2 and 45 Dirac units, excluding MMs with masses of up to 80 GeV at a 95% confidence level
Prospects of searches for long-lived charged particles with MoEDAL
We study the prospects of searches for exotic long-lived particles with the MoEDAL detector at the LHC, assuming the integrated luminosity of 30 fb- 1 that is expected at the end of Run 3. MoEDAL incorporates nuclear track detectors deployed a few metres away from the interaction point, which are sensitive to any highly-ionizing particles. Hence MoEDAL is able to detect singly- or doubly-charged particles with low velocities ÎČ< 0.15 or < 0.3 , respectively, and lifetimes larger than O(1)m/c. We examine the MoEDAL sensitivity to various singly-charged supersymmetric particles with long lifetimes and to several types of doubly-charged long-lived particles with different spins and SU(2) charges. We compare the prospective MoEDAL mass reaches to current limits from ATLAS and CMS, which involve auxiliary analysis assumptions. MoEDAL searches for doubly-charged fermions are particularly competitive
Minicharged Particles at Accelerators: Progress and Prospects
Minicharged particles (mCPs), hypothetical free particles with tiny electric
charges below the elementary charge, , offer a valuable probe of dark
sectors and fundamental physics through several clear experimental signatures.
Various models of physics beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of
such particles, which could help elucidate the ongoing mysteries regarding
electric charge quantization and the nature of dark matter. Moreover, a
hypothetical scenario involving a small minicharged subcomponent of dark matter
has recently been demonstrated as a viable explanation of the anomaly in the 21
cm hydrogen absorption signal reported by the EDGES collaboration. Although
several decades of indirect observations and direct experimental searches for
mCPs at particle accelerators have led to severe constraints, a substantial
window of the mCP mass\unicode{x2013}mixing parameter space remains
unexplored at the energy frontier accessible to current state-of-the-art
accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Consequently, mCPs have
remained topical over the years, and new experimental searches at accelerators
have been gaining interest. In this article, we review the theoretical
frameworks in which mCPs emerge and their phenomenological implications, the
current direct and indirect constraints on mCPs, and the present state of the
ongoing and upcoming searches for mCPs at particle accelerators. Additionally,
we present the results of an updated study of the projected sensitivity of the
recently approved (and relocated) Phase-1 detector of the MoEDAL's Apparatus
for Penetrating Particles (MAPP) experiment to Drell\unicode{x2013}Yan
pair-produced mCPs at the LHC's Run 3 and the future High-Luminosity LHC.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. Paper accepted for publication in the European
Physical Journal ST issue titled The MoEDAL-MAPP Experiment \unicode{x2014}
The LHC's First Dedicated Search Experiment for BSM Physic