Belle II sensitivity to long-lived dark photons

In this letter we point out that the Belle II experiment has a unique sensitivity to visibly decaying long-lived dark photons. Concentrating on the signatures with a single high-energy photon in association with a displaced pair of charged particles, we find that Belle II will be able to probe large regions of parameter space that cannot be covered by any other running or proposed experimental facility. While the signature with charged muons or pions in the final state is expected to be background-free after all selections are applied, the case of final state electrons is more involved and requires an in-depth study. We discuss possible ways to further suppress backgrounds and the corresponding experimental prospects. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

In this letter, the authors emphasize the unique sensitivity of the Belle II experiment to visibly decaying long-lived dark photons. They investigate the signatures with a single high-energy photon in association with a displaced pair of charged particles and show that Belle II can probe parameter space that other experimental facilities cannot cover. While the signature with charged muons or pions is expected to be background-free, further studies are needed to suppress background interference in the case of final state electrons.