2026-09-20T03:28:58Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/785512022-01-13T07:54:07Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131024
Jesse Thaler.
Katzin, Dustin R
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
2013-04-12T19:44:15Z
2013-04-12T19:44:15Z
2012
2012
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/78551
837168186
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2012.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-54).
We describe a setup to search for the existence of a massive gauge boson A', the "dark photon," mediating dark matter interactions with coupling strength [alpha]'. In certain models, the A' decays promptly but invisibly and might be discoverable in high luminosity collider experiments. Following a proposed setup by Wojtsekhowski et al. to use the VEPP-3 electron-positron storage ring at the Budker Institute for Nuclear Physics, we study whether an e+ + e- - A'+ -[gamma] signal could be seen over the quantum electrodynamic background. The proposed VEPP-3 setup is sensitive to an A' within the mass range mA = 5-20 MeV. Out of the two backgrounds, e++e- - 3[gamma] and e+ + e- - e+ + e- + [gamma], we find that the former process provides the dominant background for the A' signal. While positron bremsstrahlung events can be detected and suppressed in Wojtsekhowski's apparatus, the 3[gamma] cross-section has a large cross section in this range, "faking" an A'. We use Monte Carlo numerical integration techniques to calculate the cross sections and obtain reach plots, determining which values of mA' and a' could be discovered at 5[sigma] confidence. This background study can be used to improve the VEPP-3 proposal, and provides a valuable comparison study with the MIT-led DarkLight proposal to search for a dark photon in the same mass range.
by Dustin R. Katzin.
S.B.
54 p.
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by
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http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Physics.
The DarkLight experiment : searching for the dark photon
Searching for the dark photon
Thesis
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<Abstract>We describe a setup to search for the existence of a massive gauge boson A', the "dark photon," mediating dark matter interactions with coupling strength [alpha]'. In certain models, the A' decays promptly but invisibly and might be discoverable in high luminosity collider experiments. Following a proposed setup by Wojtsekhowski et al. to use the VEPP-3 electron-positron storage ring at the Budker Institute for Nuclear Physics, we study whether an e+ + e- - A'+ -[gamma] signal could be seen over the quantum electrodynamic background. The proposed VEPP-3 setup is sensitive to an A' within the mass range mA = 5-20 MeV. Out of the two backgrounds, e++e- - 3[gamma] and e+ + e- - e+ + e- + [gamma], we find that the former process provides the dominant background for the A' signal. While positron bremsstrahlung events can be detected and suppressed in Wojtsekhowski's apparatus, the 3[gamma] cross-section has a large cross section in this range, "faking" an A'. We use Monte Carlo numerical integration techniques to calculate the cross sections and obtain reach plots, determining which values of mA' and a' could be discovered at 5[sigma] confidence. This background study can be used to improve the VEPP-3 proposal, and provides a valuable comparison study with the MIT-led DarkLight proposal to search for a dark photon in the same mass range.</Abstract>
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