Search for the γZ decay mode of heavy photophobic axion-like particles at the LHC

Abstract We assume the coupling of Axion-like particle (ALP) to diphoton g aγγ ~ 0 and accomplish detailed analyses for the γZ decay mode of such heavy photophobic ALPs at the high luminosity-Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). ALPs are produced with two jets via both the s-channel vector boson exchange...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zilong Ding, Ying-nan Mao, Kechen Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-06-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP06(2025)087
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Summary:Abstract We assume the coupling of Axion-like particle (ALP) to diphoton g aγγ ~ 0 and accomplish detailed analyses for the γZ decay mode of such heavy photophobic ALPs at the high luminosity-Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). ALPs are produced with two jets via both the s-channel vector boson exchange and vector boson fusion processes, with the signal process pp → jja(→ γZ(→ ℓ + ℓ − )) for ℓ = e, μ. Signal and background events are simulated at the detector-level. Preselection criteria target events with one photon, two oppositely charged electrons or muons, and two non-b-tagged jets. The ALP mass is reconstructed, and kinematic observables are input into a machine learning-based multivariate analysis for optimal background rejection. Discover sensitivities on the ALP’s coupling to di-W boson, g aWW , are presented in the mass range from 100 to 4000 GeV at center-of-mass energy s $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 14 TeV and integrated luminosity L $$ \mathcal{L} $$ = 3 ab −1 and 140 fb −1. Sensitivities on the production cross section σ(pp → jja) times the branching ratio Br(a → γZ) are also presented.
ISSN:1029-8479