Most embeddings of the Standard Model into a more unified theory, in particular the ones based on supergravity or superstrings, predict the existence of a hidden sector of particles which have only very weak interactions with the visible sector Standard Model particles. Some of these exotic particle candidates (such as e.g. "axions", "axion-like particles" and "hidden U(1) gauge bosons") may be very light, with masses in the sub-eV range, and have very weak interactions with photons. Correspondingly, these very weakly interacting sub-eV particles (WISPs) may lead to observable effects in experiments (as well as in astrophysical and cosmological observations) searching for light shining through a wall, for changes in laser polarisation, for non-linear processes in large electromagnetic fields and for deviations from Coulomb's law. We present the physics case and a status report of this emerging low-energy frontier of fundamental physics.Comment: 45 pages, 12 figure

Very weakly interacting slim particles (WISPs), such as axion-like particles (ALPs) or hidden photons (HPs), may be non-thermally produced via the misalignment mechanism in the early universe and survive as a cold dark matter population until today. We find that, both for ALPs and HPs whose dominant interactions with the standard model arise from couplings to photons, a huge region in the parameter spaces spanned by photon coupling and ALP or HP mass can give rise to the observed cold dark matter. Remarkably, a large region of this parameter space coincides with that predicted in well motivated models of fundamental physics. A wide range of experimental searches -exploiting haloscopes (direct dark matter searches exploiting microwave cavities), helioscopes (searches for solar ALPs or HPs), or light-shining-through-a-wall techniques -can probe large parts of this parameter space in the foreseeable future.

This paper describes the physics case for a new fixed target facility at CERN SPS. The SHiP (search for hidden particles) experiment is intended to hunt for new physics in the largely unexplored domain of very weakly interacting particles with masses below the Fermi scale, inaccessible to the LHC experiments, and to study tau neutrino physics. The same proton beam setup can be used later to look for decays of tau-leptons with lepton flavour number non-conservation, [Formula: see text] and to search for weakly-interacting sub-GeV dark matter candidates. We discuss the evidence for physics beyond the standard model and describe interactions between new particles and four different portals-scalars, vectors, fermions or axion-like particles. We discuss motivations for different models, manifesting themselves via these interactions, and how they can be probed with the SHiP experiment and present several case studies. The prospects to search for relatively light SUSY and composite particles at SHiP are also discussed. We demonstrate that the SHiP experiment has a unique potential to discover new physics and can directly probe a number of solutions of beyond the standard model puzzles, such as neutrino masses, baryon asymmetry of the Universe, dark matter, and inflation.

The Physics Beyond Colliders initiative is an exploratory study aimed at exploiting the full scientific potential of the CERN's accelerator complex and scientific infrastructures through projects complementary to the LHC and other possible future colliders. These projects will target fundamental physics questions in modern particle physics.ii 7 Physics reach of PBC projects 66 8 Physics reach of PBC projects in the sub-eV mass range 66 8.1 Axion portal with photon dominance (BC9) 66 9 Physics reach of PBC projects in the MeV-GeV mass range 73 9.1 Vector Portal 78 9.1.1 Minimal Dark Photon model (BC1) 78 9.1.2 Dark Photon decaying to invisible final states (BC2) 83 9.1.3 Milli-charged particles (BC3) 90 9.2 Scalar Portal 93 9.2.1 Dark scalar mixing with the Higgs (BC4 and BC5) 93 9.3 Neutrino Portal 97 9.3.1 Neutrino portal with electron-flavor dominance (BC6) 98 9.3.2 Neutrino portal with muon-flavor dominance (BC7) 101 9.3.3 Neutrino portal with tau-flavor dominance (BC8) 103 9.4 Axion Portal 106 9.4.1 Axion portal with photon-coupling (BC9) 106 9.4.2 Axion portal with fermion-coupling (BC10) 110 9.4.3 Axion portal with gluon-coupling (BC11) 113 10 Physics reach of PBC projects in the multi-TeV mass range 115 10.1 Measurement of EDMs as probe of NP in the multi TeV scale 115 10.2 Experiments sensitive to Flavour Violation 116 10.3 B physics anomalies and BR(K → πνν) 120 11 Conclusions and Outlook 121 A ALPS: prescription for treating the FCNC processes 123 B ALPs: production via π 0 , η, η mixing 126 Executive SummaryThe main goal of this document follows very closely the mandate of the Physics Beyond Colliders (PBC) study group, and is "an exploratory study aimed at exploiting the full scientific potential of CERN's accelerator complex and its scientific infrastructure through projects complementary to the LHC, HL-LHC and other possible future colliders. These projects would target fundamental physics questions that are similar in spirit to those addressed by high-energy colliders, but that require different types of beams and experiments 1 ". Fundamental questions in modern particle physics as the origin of the neutrino masses and oscillations, the nature of Dark Matter and the explanation of the mechanism that drives the baryogenesis are still open today and do require an answer.So far an unambiguous signal of New Physics (NP) from direct searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), indirect searches in flavour physics and direct detection Dark Matter experiments is absent. Moreover, theory provides no clear guidance on the NP scale. This imposes today, more than ever, a broadening of the experimental effort in the quest for NP. We need to explore different ranges of interaction strengths and masses with respect to what is already covered by existing or planned initiatives.Low-mass and very-weakly coupled particles represent an attractive possibility, theoretically and phenomenologically well motivated, but currently poorly explored: a systematic investigation should be pursued in the next decades both at acc...

Dark sectors, consisting of new, light, weakly-coupled particles that do not interact with the known strong, weak, or electromagnetic forces, are a particularly compelling possibility for new physics. Nature may contain numerous dark sectors, each with their own beautiful structure, distinct particles, and forces. This review summarizes the physics motivation for dark sectors and the exciting opportunities for experimental exploration. It is the summary of the Intensity Frontier subgroup "New, Light, Weakly-coupled Particles" of the Community Summer Study 2013 (Snowmass). We discuss axions, which solve the strong CP problem and are an excellent dark matter candidate, and their generalization to axion-like particles. We also review dark photons and other dark-sector particles, including sub-GeV dark matter, which are theoretically natural, provide for dark matter candidates or new dark matter interactions, and could resolve outstanding puzzles in particle and astro-particle physics. In many cases, the exploration of dark sectors can proceed with existing facilities and comparatively modest experiments. A rich, diverse, and lowcost experimental program has been identified that has the potential for one or more game-changing discoveries. These physics opportunities should be vigorously pursued in the US and elsewhere.

We explore constraints on gauge bosons of a weakly coupled U(1) B−L , U(1) Lµ−Le , U(1) Le−Lτ and U(1) Lµ−Lτ . To do so we apply the full constraining power of experimental bounds derived for a hidden photon of a secluded U(1) X and translate them to the considered gauge groups. In contrast to the secluded hidden photon that acquires universal couplings to charged Standard Model particles through kinetic mixing with the photon, for these gauge groups the couplings to the different Standard Model particles can vary widely. We take finite, computable loop-induced kinetic mixing effects into account, which provide additional sensitivity in a range of experiments. In addition, we collect and extend limits from neutrino experiments as well as astrophysical and cosmological observations and include new constraints from white dwarf cooling. We discuss the reach of future experiments in searching for these gauge bosons.

The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) will be a forth generation axion helioscope. As its primary physics goal, IAXO will look for axions or axion-like particles (ALPs) originating in the Sun via the Primakoff conversion of the solar plasma photons. In terms of signalto-noise ratio, IAXO will be about 4-5 orders of magnitude more sensitive than CAST, currently the most powerful axion helioscope, reaching sensitivity to axion-photon couplings down to a few ×10 −12 GeV −1 and thus probing a large fraction of the currently unexplored axion and ALP parameter space. IAXO will also be sensitive to solar axions produced by mechanisms mediated by the axion-electron coupling g ae with sensitivity −for the first time− to values of g ae not previously excluded by astrophysics. With several other possible physics cases, IAXO has the potential to serve as a multi-purpose facility for generic axion and ALP research in the next decade. In this paper we present the conceptual design of IAXO, which follows the layout of an enhanced axion helioscope, based on a purpose-built 20m-long 8-coils toroidal superconducting magnet. All the eight 60cm-diameter magnet bores are equipped with focusing x-ray optics, able to focus the signal photons into ∼ 0.2 cm 2 spots that are imaged by ultra-low-background Micromegas x-ray detectors. The magnet is built into a structure with elevation and azimuth drives that will allow for solar tracking for ∼12 h each day.

Axion-like particles (ALPs), relatively light (pseudo-)scalars coupled to two gauge bosons, are a common feature of many extensions of the Standard Model. Up to now there has been a gap in the sensitivity to such particles in the MeV to 10 GeV range. In this note we show that LEP data on $Z\to\gamma\gamma$ decays provides significant constraints in this range (and indeed up to the $Z$-mass). We also discuss the sensitivities of LHC and future colliders. Particularly the LHC shows promising sensitivity in searching for a pseudo-scalar with $4 \lesssim m_a \lesssim 60$ GeV in the channel $pp \to 3 \gamma$ with $m_{3\gamma}\approx m_{Z}$.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure