ALP and $Z^\prime$ boson at the Electron-Ion collider

TL;DR

This paper investigates the potential of the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider to detect or constrain electrophilic axion-like particles and $Z'$ bosons in the GeV mass range, using effective field theory and realistic detector simulations.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed sensitivity analysis of the EIC for purely electrophilic ALPs and $Z'$ bosons, including realistic experimental effects.

Findings

Projected exclusion limits significantly improve current constraints.

EIC can probe new parameter space for ALPs and $Z'$ bosons.

Analysis includes tri-electron and photon final states with systematic uncertainties.

Abstract

We study the sensitivity of the upcoming electron-ion (EIC) collider to purely electrophilic new physics in the GeV mass range. Within an effective field theory framework, we consider two different scenarios: an axion-like particle (ALP) and a new heavy neutral vector gauge boson $Z^\prime $, each couples to electrons only. We analyze electron-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}= 141$ GeV with an integrated luminosity of $100~{\rm fb}^{-1}$, focusing primarily on the tri-electron final state. Additionally, loop-induced ALP-photon couplings driven photon final states are also explored. Incorporating realistic detector effects and systematic uncertainties, we obtain projected exclusion limits on the relevant cross-sections and couplings. We find that the results from EIC can significantly extend the sensitivity to electrophilic axion-like particles and $Z^\prime $ bosons in regions of parameter space that remain weakly constrained by existing experiments.