Dark Sector first results at Belle II

TL;DR

The paper reviews initial results from Belle II in searching for dark sector particles, highlighting its potential to explore dark matter candidates up to 10 GeV/c^2 with unprecedented sensitivity using recent data.

Contribution

It presents the first dark sector search results at Belle II and discusses the experiment's discovery potential with current and upcoming data.

Findings

Initial dark sector search results obtained at Belle II.

Demonstrated Belle II's capability to explore dark matter candidates up to 10 GeV/c^2.

Projected increased sensitivity with future data collection.

Abstract

Understanding the nature of dark matter is one of the most exciting challenges in fundamental physics nowadays, requiring the synergy of different search techniques, as well as theoretical inputs. An interesting opportunity for the investigation of dark matter is the one offered by the \textit{B}-factories. The Belle~II experiment, located at the interaction point of the SuperKEKB asymmetric energy $e^+e^-$ collider, is a new generation \textit{B}-factory experiment operating at the Japanese KEK laboratory. With a machine design luminosity of $6\times10^{35}\,\rm{cm}^{-2}s^{-1}$, Belle II aims to record 50 ab$^{-1}$ of data within the next decade. Thanks to this large data-sample and by using dedicated triggers, Belle~II is expected to explore dark sector candidates with unprecedented sensitivity in the mass range up to 10 GeV$/c^2$. During 2018, the experiment concluded a commissioning run, collecting a data-sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 0.5 fb$^{-1}$, while main operations started on March 2019 with an almost complete detector. So far the experiment collected an integrated luminosity of $\sim90\, \rm{fb}^{-1}$. With these data-sets Belle~II has already shown the possibility to search for a large variety of dark sector candidates in the GeV mass range. This paper reviews the status of the dark sector searches performed at the Belle~II experiment, with a focus on the first obtained results and the discovery potential with the data-set available in the short term.