Mono-X and more
Dark Photons
Several BSM predicted particles could give rise to resonant particle pair production, with dimuon being one of the most promising final states. In those predictions, a new particle emerges in the pp collision and subsequently decays into dimuon. One of the most exciting candidates is the dark photon, a new gauge field predicted by the dark matter theory. Another intriguing candidate is a pseudo-scalar particle predicted in the extended two-Higgs-doublet model. Recent searches have so far yielded null results for the new particles in the large mass value, interest has therefore grown in extending resonance searches to explore the phase space of lower masses. Our analysis thus broadens the exploration of dimuon resonances, now reaching scales as low as GeV.
Soft Unclustered Energy Patterns (SUEP)
As many simpler models and signatures of possible beyond Standard Model physics have been ruled out in recent searches at the LHC and beyond, models like Hidden Sectors have gained increasingly more attention. These models assume a dark sector that is only weakly coupled to our Standard Model sector via some ‘portal’ – a particle – perhaps a new one or perhaps something like our Higgs. This particular dark matter model assumes a QCD-like group in the dark sector that would generate ‘dark showers’, which promptly decay back to Standard Model particles, in a diffuse and isotropic ‘soft bomb’ that would be very hard to distinguish from typical QCD events. Our analysis thus seeks to identify very high multiplicity and the particular shape of the jets to gain sensitivity to possible SUEPs.
