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Title: New physics via pion capture and simple nuclear reactions

Abstract

Light, beyond-the-standard-model particles X in the 1–100 MeV mass range can be produced in nuclear and hadronic reactions but would have to decay electromagnetically. Here, we show that simple and well-understood low-energy hadronic processes can be used as a tool to study X production and decay. In particular, the pion capture process π⁻p → Xn → e⁺ e⁻n can be used in a new experimental setup to search for anomalies in the angular distribution of the electron-positron pair, which could signal the appearance of dark photons, axionlike particles, and other exotic states. This process can be used to decisively test the hypothesis of a new particle produced in the 7Li + p reaction. We also discuss a variety of other theoretically clean hadronic processes, such as p + D(T) fusion, as a promising source of X particles.

Authors:
; ORCiD logo;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); Government of Canada; Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation; National Science Foundation (NSF); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); National Research Council Canada (NRC)
OSTI Identifier:
1573516
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1800755
Grant/Contract Number:  
FG02-91ER40684; NSF-1740142
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review D
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Physical Review D Journal Volume: 100 Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010
Publisher:
American Physical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Astronomy & Astrophysics; Physics

Citation Formats

Chen, Chien-Yi, McKeen, David, and Pospelov, Maxim. New physics via pion capture and simple nuclear reactions. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.100.095008.
Chen, Chien-Yi, McKeen, David, & Pospelov, Maxim. New physics via pion capture and simple nuclear reactions. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.095008
Chen, Chien-Yi, McKeen, David, and Pospelov, Maxim. Fri . "New physics via pion capture and simple nuclear reactions". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.095008.
@article{osti_1573516,
title = {New physics via pion capture and simple nuclear reactions},
author = {Chen, Chien-Yi and McKeen, David and Pospelov, Maxim},
abstractNote = {Light, beyond-the-standard-model particles X in the 1–100 MeV mass range can be produced in nuclear and hadronic reactions but would have to decay electromagnetically. Here, we show that simple and well-understood low-energy hadronic processes can be used as a tool to study X production and decay. In particular, the pion capture process π⁻p → Xn → e⁺ e⁻n can be used in a new experimental setup to search for anomalies in the angular distribution of the electron-positron pair, which could signal the appearance of dark photons, axionlike particles, and other exotic states. This process can be used to decisively test the hypothesis of a new particle produced in the 7Li + p reaction. We also discuss a variety of other theoretically clean hadronic processes, such as p + D(T) fusion, as a promising source of X particles.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.100.095008},
journal = {Physical Review D},
number = 9,
volume = 100,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Nov 08 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Fri Nov 08 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.095008

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
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