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Search for a "Dark Photon" with the Mainz Microtron
Harald Merkel (Universität Mainz)
Seminar Room 3, 15:00h
Nearly all consistent extensions of the Standard Model predict an
additional U(1) interaction, which comes in naturally as lowest-rank
symmetry due to the breaking of large symmetries. Such an interaction
is carried by a U(1) boson with very weak interaction with Standard
Model matter, sometimes called the “Dark Photon”.
Some existing indirect experimental evidence for deviations from the
Standard Model can be explained by such an additional interaction,
e.g. the g-2 anomaly of the muon or the heavily disputed result of the
DAMA/LIBRA dark matter search experiment, which suggests a mass
range for the dark photon up to ~1 GeV.
The direct search for such a dark photon requires luminosities far beyond
existing experiments in combination with excellent mass resolution to
access the region of the expected very weak coupling. Ideal for this task
are the high external current electron accelerators for fixed target
electro-production experiments. In this talk, a first test measurement at the
Mainz Microtron (MAMI) will be presented, which shows the quality and
discovery potential of this new measurement principle.
