First Constraints on Heavy QCD Axions with a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber Using the ArgoNeuT Experiment

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First Constraints on Heavy QCD Axions with a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber Using the ArgoNeuT Experiment

R. Acciarri, C. Adams, B. Baller, V. Basque, F. Cavanna, R. T. Co, R. S. Fitzpatrick, B. Fleming, P. Green, R. Harnik, K. J. Kelly, S. Kumar, K. Lang, I. Lepetic, Z. Liu, X. Luo, K. F. Lyu, O. Palamara, G. Scanavini, M. Soderberg, J. Spitz, A. M. Szelc, W. Wu, and T. Yang (The ArgoNeuT Collaboration)

Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 221802 – Published 31 May 2023

Abstract

We present the results of a search for heavy QCD axions performed by the ArgoNeuT experiment at Fermilab. We search for heavy axions produced in the NuMI neutrino beam target and absorber decaying into dimuon pairs, which can be identified using the unique capabilities of ArgoNeuT and the MINOS near detector. This decay channel is motivated by a broad class of heavy QCD axion models that address the strong $C P$ and axion quality problems with axion masses above the dimuon threshold. We obtain new constraints at a 95% confidence level for heavy axions in the previously unexplored mass range of 0.2–0.9 GeV, for axion decay constants around tens of TeV.

Received 23 August 2022
Accepted 21 April 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.221802

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP³.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Hypothetical particle physics models

Axion-like particles Axions Muons

Neutrino detection

Particles & Fields

Authors & Affiliations

R. Acciarri¹, C. Adams², B. Baller¹, V. Basque¹, F. Cavanna¹, R. T. Co^3,4, R. S. Fitzpatrick⁵, B. Fleming⁶, P. Green ^7,8,*, R. Harnik¹, K. J. Kelly⁹, S. Kumar^10,11, K. Lang¹², I. Lepetic¹³, Z. Liu^3,†, X. Luo¹⁴, K. F. Lyu³, O. Palamara¹, G. Scanavini⁶, M. Soderberg¹⁵, J. Spitz⁵, A. M. Szelc¹⁶, W. Wu¹, and T. Yang¹ (The ArgoNeuT Collaboration)

¹Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA
²Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
³School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
⁴William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
⁵University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
⁶Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
⁷University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
⁸University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom
⁹CERN, Esplande des Particules, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
¹⁰University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
¹¹Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
¹²University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
¹³Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
¹⁴University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA
¹⁵Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA
¹⁶University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom

^*patrick.green@physics.ox.ac.uk
^†zliuphys@umn.edu

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Issue

Vol. 130, Iss. 22 — 2 June 2023

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