Meson production in air showers and the search for light exotic particles

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the production spectra of various mesons in cosmic ray air showers to assess their potential as sources of detectable light exotic particles, aiding underground searches for new physics.

Contribution

It provides detailed energy spectra of multiple mesons from air showers using QCD-inspired models, enabling better estimates of exotic particle fluxes in underground experiments.

Findings

Calculated fluxes of neutral mesons in air showers.

Re-evaluated the potential for meson decays to produce millicharged particles.

Enhanced understanding of meson production for exotic particle searches.

Abstract

Decays of mesons produced in cosmic ray induced air showers in Earth's atmosphere can lead to a flux of light exotic particles which can be detected in underground experiments. We evaluate the energy spectra of the light neutral mesons $\pi^0$, $\eta$, $\rho^0$, $\omega$, $\phi$ and $J/\psi$ produced in interactions of cosmic ray protons and helium nuclei with air using QCD inspired event generators. Summing up the mesons produced in the individual hadronic interactions of air showers, we obtain the resulting fluxes of undecayed mesons. As an application, we re-consider the case of millicharged particles created in the electromagnetic decay channels of neutral mesons.