Search for long-lived heavy charged particles using a ring imaging Cherenkov technique at LHCb

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for long-lived heavy charged particles at LHCb using Cherenkov detectors, setting upper limits on their production cross-section in the mass range 124-309 GeV/c².

Contribution

First search at LHCb using ring imaging Cherenkov detectors to identify heavy long-lived charged particles, establishing new cross-section limits.

Findings

No evidence of long-lived heavy charged particles was observed.

Mass-dependent cross-section upper limits are set between 2-4 fb.

Limits apply to particles within the LHCb pseudorapidity range 1.8 to 4.9.

Abstract

A search is performed for heavy long-lived charged particles using 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ of pp collisions collected at $\sqrt{s}$= 7 and 8 TeV with the LHCb detector. The search is mainly based on the response of the ring imaging Cherenkovdetectors to distinguish the heavy, slow-moving particles from muons. No evidence is found for the production of such long-lived states. The results are expressed as limits on the Drell-Yan production of pairs of long-lived particles, with both particles in the LHCb pseudorapidity acceptance, $1.8 < \eta < 4.9$. The mass-dependent cross-section upper limits are in the range 2-4 fb (at 95\% CL) for masses between 124 and 309 GeV/c$^2$.