Unveiling Time-Varying Signals of Ultralight Bosonic Dark Matter at Collider and Beam Dump Experiments

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method to detect ultralight bosonic dark matter via time-varying signals in collider and beam dump experiments, significantly improving sensitivity over traditional approaches.

Contribution

It introduces a new detection technique leveraging the oscillating mass of dark mediators and event time-stamps, enhancing sensitivity and enabling detection of invisible decays.

Findings

Time-varying signals reduce traditional constraints by 1-2 orders of magnitude.

Event time-stamp analysis boosts sensitivity by about one order of magnitude.

Method effectively detects invisible dark mediator decays.

Abstract

The ultralight boson represents a promising dark matter candidate exhibiting unique wave-like behaviors. These properties could transfer to the dark mediator, such as the kinetic mixing dark photon, which can be a link between the dark and Standard Model sectors, resulting in periodic oscillations of its mass. We propose a method to detect ultralight dark matter using dark mediators in collider and beam dump experiments, distinguishing it from conventional atomic, molecular, and optical methods. The time-varying nature of dark mediator mass exhibits a double-peak spectrum, reducing traditional constraints by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude, due to decreased luminosity exposure in each resonant mass bin. To enhance sensitivity, we utilize event time-stamps in the CMS Open Data and demonstrate that this technique boosts sensitivity by approximately one order of magnitude compared to the time-blind method. Moreover, it proves effective in detecting the invisible decay of the dark mediator.