Dark Sector Production via Proton Bremsstrahlung

TL;DR

This paper analyzes dark sector particle production via proton bremsstrahlung at high-energy colliders, comparing detailed nucleon scattering models with approximation methods to improve predictions for experiments like the HL-LHC Forward Physics Facility.

Contribution

It introduces a nucleon scattering model based on pomeron exchange for more accurate dark particle production predictions in proton beam experiments.

Findings

The nucleon scattering model yields different production rates compared to traditional approximations.

Distributions and rates are provided for various beam energies, including HL-LHC relevant energies.

The model enhances understanding of dark vector and scalar production in high luminosity experiments.

Abstract

Experiments using proton beams at high luminosity colliders and fixed target facilities provide impressive sensitivity to new light weakly coupled degrees of freedom. With these experiments in mind, we revisit the production of dark vectors and scalars via proton bremsstrahlung, making use of a model that describes the underlying nucleon scattering cross-section in the forward direction due to pomeron exchange. We compare the resulting distributions and rates with those obtained via variants of the Fermi-Weizsacker-Williams approximation, and provide production rate distributions for a range of beam energies, including those relevant for the proposed Forward Physics Facility at the High Luminosity-LHC.