Constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experiments

Abstract We study the influence of leptophilic dark matter interactions on decays of muons and ground state mesons in existing experiments. We consider a secluded dark sector exclusively interacting with leptons via either a (leptophilic) scalar or vector mediator. These interactions will therefore...

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Main Authors: Gerrit Bickendorf, Manuel Drees
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2022-12-01
Series:European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11128-9
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author Gerrit Bickendorf
Manuel Drees
author_facet Gerrit Bickendorf
Manuel Drees
author_sort Gerrit Bickendorf
collection DOAJ
description Abstract We study the influence of leptophilic dark matter interactions on decays of muons and ground state mesons in existing experiments. We consider a secluded dark sector exclusively interacting with leptons via either a (leptophilic) scalar or vector mediator. These interactions will therefore influence leptonic decays and deform the energy spectra. We first study the Michel decay of muons, $$\mu ^+\rightarrow e^+\nu _e \bar{\nu }_\mu $$ μ + → e + ν e ν ¯ μ , which allow us to constrain the parameter space reasonably well. Secondly, the rare $$\pi ^\pm $$ π ± , $$K^\pm $$ K ± , $$D^\pm $$ D ± and $$D_s^\pm $$ D s ± decays to $$e\nu $$ e ν will be considered. Scalar mediators would remove the Standard Model helicity suppression, so that strong constraints can be derived. The resulting bounds on the couplings of the light mediators to electrons and muons still turn out to be somewhat weaker than those from searches at low-energy $$e^+e^-$$ e + e - colliders and the magnetic moment of the muon, respectively. Finally, we show that kaon and pion decays basically exclude a “Co-SIMP” scenario where a scalar dark matter particle has a dimension-5 coupling to electrons.
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spelling doaj.art-840b81b2fba6468c9b465a42778e2b512023-03-22T12:11:52ZengSpringerOpenEuropean Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields1434-60522022-12-01821211110.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11128-9Constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experimentsGerrit Bickendorf0Manuel Drees1Bethe Center for Theoretical Physics and Physikalisches Institut, Universität BonnBethe Center for Theoretical Physics and Physikalisches Institut, Universität BonnAbstract We study the influence of leptophilic dark matter interactions on decays of muons and ground state mesons in existing experiments. We consider a secluded dark sector exclusively interacting with leptons via either a (leptophilic) scalar or vector mediator. These interactions will therefore influence leptonic decays and deform the energy spectra. We first study the Michel decay of muons, $$\mu ^+\rightarrow e^+\nu _e \bar{\nu }_\mu $$ μ + → e + ν e ν ¯ μ , which allow us to constrain the parameter space reasonably well. Secondly, the rare $$\pi ^\pm $$ π ± , $$K^\pm $$ K ± , $$D^\pm $$ D ± and $$D_s^\pm $$ D s ± decays to $$e\nu $$ e ν will be considered. Scalar mediators would remove the Standard Model helicity suppression, so that strong constraints can be derived. The resulting bounds on the couplings of the light mediators to electrons and muons still turn out to be somewhat weaker than those from searches at low-energy $$e^+e^-$$ e + e - colliders and the magnetic moment of the muon, respectively. Finally, we show that kaon and pion decays basically exclude a “Co-SIMP” scenario where a scalar dark matter particle has a dimension-5 coupling to electrons.https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11128-9
spellingShingle Gerrit Bickendorf
Manuel Drees
Constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experiments
European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields
title Constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experiments
title_full Constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experiments
title_fullStr Constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experiments
title_full_unstemmed Constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experiments
title_short Constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experiments
title_sort constraints on light leptophilic dark matter mediators from decay experiments
url https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11128-9
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