Unleashing the full power of LHCb to probe stealth new physics

In this paper, we describe the potential of the LHCb experiment to detect stealth physics. This refers to dynamics beyond the standard model that would elude searches that focus on energetic objects or precision measurements of known processes. Stealth signatures include long-lived particles and light resonances that are produced very rarely or together with overwhelming backgrounds. We will discuss why LHCb is equipped to discover this kind of physics at the Large Hadron Collider and provide examples of well-motivated theoretical models that can be probed with great detail at the experiment.

Compositeness above the electroweak scale and a proposed test at LHCb

I review attempts to construct models of partial compositeness from strongly coupled gauge theories. A few minimal assumptions allow one to isolate a small number of representative models. After presenting the main idea, I discuss a recent proposal to detect a light pseudo-scalar, predicted in all these models, at the LHCb detector.

Proposed Inclusive Dark Photon Search at LHCb

We propose an inclusive search for dark photons A^{'} at the LHCb experiment based on both prompt and displaced dimuon resonances. Because the couplings of the dark photon are inherited from the photon via kinetic mixing, the dark photon A^{'}→μ^{+}μ^{-} rate can be directly inferred from the off-shell photon γ^{*}→μ^{+}μ^{-} rate, making this a fully data-driven search. For run 3 of the LHC, we estimate that LHCb will have sensitivity to large regions of the unexplored dark-photon parameter space, especially in the 210-520 MeV and 10-40 GeV mass ranges. This search leverages the excellent invariant-mass and vertex resolution of LHCb, along with its unique particle-identification and real-time data-analysis capabilities.