New Physics Searches at Kaon and Hyperon Factories

TL;DR

This paper reviews the potential of kaon and hyperon decay experiments to detect new physics, emphasizing recent strategies and the promising future sensitivities of upcoming experiments in exploring light dark sectors.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of phenomenological models, current search status, and proposes new strategies for exploring under-investigated decay signatures.

Findings

Current experiments have high sensitivity to new physics in rare meson decays.

Next-generation experiments could significantly enhance the discovery potential.

New search strategies may uncover previously inaccessible light dark sector signals.

Abstract

Rare meson decays are among the most sensitive probes of both heavy and light new physics. Among them, new physics searches using kaons benefit from their small total decay widths and the availability of very large datasets. On the other hand, useful complementary information is provided by hyperon decay measurements. We summarize the relevant phenomenological models and the status of the searches in a comprehensive list of kaon and hyperon decay channels. We identify new search strategies for under-explored signatures, and demonstrate that the improved sensitivities from current and next-generation experiments could lead to a qualitative leap in the exploration of light dark sectors.