Sensitivity to decays of long-lived dark photons at the ILC (A Snowmass White Paper)

TL;DR

This paper assesses the ILC's ability to detect long-lived dark photons from Higgs decays, serving as a benchmark for tracking and vertex detector performance with displaced vertices.

Contribution

It introduces a study of dark photon sensitivity at the ILC, focusing on displaced vertex detection in Higgs decay events, which is a novel benchmark for detector performance.

Findings

Demonstrates ILC's potential to detect long-lived dark photons

Provides insights into tracking and vertex detector capabilities

Establishes a benchmark for long-lived particle searches

Abstract

We investigate the sensitivity to long-lived dark photons produced in Higgstrahlung events via the Higgs portal, $H \rightarrow \gamma_{D} \gamma_{D}$, with the Silicon Detector (SiD) at the International Linear Collider (ILC). These events provide a useful benchmark for tracking and vertex detector performance with long-lived particle decays at displaced vertices. The ILC is one of several Higgs factories proposed by the international community to study the properties of the Higgs boson at high precision.