Naturally Light Hidden Photons in LARGE Volume String Compactifications

TL;DR

This paper explores how large volume string compactifications naturally produce light hidden photons with kinetic mixing to the Standard Model photon, making them accessible to astrophysical, cosmological, and laboratory tests.

Contribution

It analyzes the masses and kinetic mixing of hidden U(1)s in LARGE volume string compactifications, revealing their potential detectability.

Findings

Hidden photons can be naturally light in these models.

Kinetic mixing can be sufficiently large for near-future experiments.

Potential for astrophysical and cosmological observations.

Abstract

Extra "hidden" U(1) gauge factors are a generic feature of string theory that is of particular phenomenological interest. They can kinetically mix with the Standard Model photon and are thereby accessible to a wide variety of astrophysical and cosmological observations and laboratory experiments. In this paper we investigate the masses and the kinetic mixing of hidden U(1)s in LARGE volume compactifications of string theory. We find that in these scenarios the hidden photons can be naturally light and that their kinetic mixing with the ordinary electromagnetic photon can be of a size interesting for near future experiments and observations.