Searching for axion-like particles with proton tagging at the LHC

• Published in: The journal of high energy physics Vol. 2018; no. 6; pp. 1 - 19
• Main Authors: Baldenegro, C., Fichet, S., von Gersdorff, G., Royon, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-06-2018; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Classical and Quantum Gravitation; Elementary Particles; High energy physics; Large Hadron Collider; Marking; Particle collisions; Phenomenology of Large extra dimensions; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Protons; Quantum Field Theories; Quantum Field Theory; Quantum Physics; Regular Article - Theoretical Physics; Relativity Theory; String Theory; Strings and branes phenomenology; Strings and branes phenomenology; Phenomenology of Large extra dimensions
• ISSN: 1029-8479; 1029-8479
• DOI: 10.1007/JHEP06(2018)131

A
bstract
The existence of an axion-like particle (ALP) would induce anomalous scattering of light by light. This process can be probed at the Large Hadron Collider in central exclusive production of photon pairs in proton-proton collisions by tagging the surviving protons using forward proton detectors. Using a detailed simulation, we estimate the expected bounds on the ALP-photon coupling for a wide range of masses. We show that the proposed search is competitive and complementary to other collider bounds for masses above 600 GeV, especially for resonant ALP production between 600 GeV and 2 TeV. Our results are also valid for a CP-even scalar, and the efficiency of the search is independent of the width of the ALP.