The Heavy Photon Search Experiment at Jefferson Lab
New heavy vector bosons, also known as ``heavy photons'', ``dark photons'', or ``hidden sector photons'', are expected on very general theoretical grounds. Recent astrophysical evidence motivates the direct search for a heavy photon $A'$ in the mass range $$m_{A'} \sim 20$$ to 1000 MeV/c$$^{2}$$, with coupling to ordinary photons {\it via} a kinetic mixing term $$\propto\epsilon$$, expected around $$10^{-5}$$ to $$10^{-2}$$. Such a new dark force gauge boson below the GeV range would naturally mediate TeV range dark matter annihilation, and interaction with ordinary matter. Existing constraints from collider searches and beam dump experiments leave much of this preferred $$(m_{A'},\epsilon)$$ phase space unexplored. The detection of electroproduced $A'$ on a heavy target from their decay into $$e^{+}e^{-}$$ pairs comes with a copious QED trident background. Using the high luminosity and precision beam available from Jlab, and combining a silicon microstrip vertex tracker with a lead-tungstate calorimeter for triggering, the HPS experiment will hunt for the $A'$ in a large $$\epsilon$$ range, with unique sensitivity in the lower coupling range using vertexing to suppress the trident background. In this talk, the experimental setup and goals of the HPS experiment will be presented.
- Research Organization:
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-06OR23177
- OSTI ID:
- 1993599
- Report Number(s):
- JLAB-PHY-12-1740; DOE/OR/23177-6866
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: APS April Meeting 2012, March 31–April 3 2012; Atlanta, Georgia
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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