Searches for long-lived dark photons at proton accelerator experiments

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive and updated analysis of the parameter space for long-lived dark photons at proton accelerator experiments, emphasizing the impact of theoretical uncertainties and offering accessible results for future research.

Contribution

It introduces a unified calculation of dark photon parameter space with updated phenomenology and publicly available tools, improving upon outdated assumptions in prior studies.

Findings

Updated dark photon parameter space maps

Highlighting the impact of phenomenological uncertainties

Providing accessible results for future experiments

Abstract

A systematic and unified analysis of the capability of lifetime frontier experiments to probe the parameter space of hypothetical long-lived particles is crucial for defining the targets of future searches. However, such a comprehensive study has not yet been conducted for dark photons - hypothetical massive particles that kinetically mix with Standard Model photons. Existing studies often rely on outdated assumptions about dark photon phenomenology, leading to inaccurate calculations of the parameter space, including regions already excluded or relevant for future experiments. In this paper, we present a comprehensive calculation of the parameter space for GeV-scale dark photons and light dark matter accessible to lifetime frontier experiments. Our analysis highlights how theoretical uncertainties in dark photon phenomenology can significantly impact experimental sensitivity across coupling and mass parameters. To facilitate further investigation, we provide these results in a publicly accessible form, incorporating updated dark photon phenomenology into the event generator \texttt{SensCalc}.