Light dark sector searches at low-energy high-luminosity <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> colliders

Although the standard model (SM) is extremely successful, there are various motivations for considering the physics beyond the SM. For example, the SM includes neither dark energy nor dark matter, which has been confirmed through astrophysical observations. Examination of the dark sector, which contains new, light, weakly-coupled particles at the GeV scale or lower, is well motivated by both theory and dark-matter detection experiments. In this mini-review, we focus on one particular case in which these new particles can interact with SM particles through a kinematic mixing term between U(1) gauge bosons. The magnitude of the mixing can be parameterized by a parameter ?. Following a brief overview of the relevant motivations and the constraints determined from numerous experiments, we focus on the light dark sector phenomenology at low-energy high-luminosity e ⁺ e ^? colliders. These colliders are ideal for probing the new light particles, because of their large production rates and capacity for precise resonance reconstruction. Depending on the details of a given model, the typical observed signatures may also contain multi lepton pairs, displaced vertices, and/or missing energy. Through the use of extremely large data samples from existing experiments, such as KLOE, CLEO, BABAR, Belle, and BESIII, the magnitude of the mixing can be parameterized by a parameter ? < 10^?4–10^?3 constraint can be obtained. Obviously, future experiments with larger datasets will provide opportunities for the discovery of new particles in the dark sector, or for stricter upper limits on ?. Once the light dark sector is confirmed, the particle physics landscape will be changed significantly.     

Parity-Violating in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript> Scattering at Finite Temperature

Parity violation implies that physics laws are not invariant under spatial coordinate reversal. Electron-positron scattering is a process that displays parity violation. Using the Thermo Field Dynamics formalism this scattering at finite temperature is analyzed. The transition amplitude is calculated as a function of temperature. The parity violation at very high temperatures tend to go to zero.     

Near-threshold radiative 3<Emphasis Type="Italic">π</Emphasis> production in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilation

We consider the π⁺π^?π₀γ final state in electron-positron annihilation at c.m.s. energies not far from the threshold. Both initial-and final-state radiations of the hard photon are considered, but without interference between them. The amplitude for the final-state radiation is obtained by using the effective Wess-Zumino-Witten Lagrangian for pion-photon interactions valid for low energies. In real experiments, energies are never so small that ρ and ω mesons would have a negligible effect. So a phenomenological Breit-Wigner factor is introduced in the final-state radiation amplitude to account for the vector mesons' influence. Using radiative 3π production amplitudes, a Monte Carlo event generator was developed which could be useful in experimental studies.     

Radiative events as a probe of dark forces at GeV-scale <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> colliders

High-luminosity e ⁺ e ⁻ colliders at the GeV scale (flavor factories) have been recently recognized to be an ideal environment to search for a light weakly coupled vector boson U (dark photon) emerging in several new physics models. At flavor factories a particularly clean channel is the production of the U boson in association with a photon, followed by the decay of the U boson into lepton pairs. Beyond the approximations addressed in previous works, we perform an exact lowest order calculation of the signal and background processes of this channel. We also include the effect of initial- and final-state QED corrections neglected so far, to show how they affect the distributions of experimental interest. We present new results for the expected statistical significance to a dark photon signal at KLOE/KLOE-2 and future super-B factories. The calculation is implemented in a new release of the event generator BabaYaga@NLO, which is available for full event simulations and data analysis.     

Two-photon production of vector resonance in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> collisions

A parameterization of the amplitude of the two-photon production of 1⁺⁺ and 1^?+ vector resonances V in the e ⁺ e ^? → e ⁺ e ^? V reaction has been obtained. The differential (in momentum transfer) scattering cross section dσ/dQ ² has been found for this reaction in the equivalent-photon approximation. The result obtained is model-independent.     

On <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> pair production by colliding electromagnetic pulses

Electron-positron pair production from vacuum in an electromagnetic field created by two counterpropagating focused laser pulses interacting with each other is analyzed. The dependence of the number of produced pairs on the intensity of a laser pulse and the focusing parameter is studied with a realistic three-dimensional model of the electromagnetic field of the focused wave, which is an exact solution of the Maxwell equations. It has been shown that e⁺e^? pair production can be experimentally observed when the intensity of each beam is I～10²⁶ W/cm², which is two orders of magnitude lower than that for a single pulse.     

Inclusive production of vector charmonium in two-photon <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilation

One of the processes involving the inclusive production of the vector-charmonium states J/ψ. and ψ(2S) in two-photon electron-positron annihilation at \(\sqrt s = 10.6 GeV\) is studied on the basis of the singlet model. Analytic expressions are derived for respective differential cross sections, and numerical values of the total cross sections are given, along with graphs that represent the distributions of cross sections in the scattering angle and in the vector-meson energy. It is shown that these distributions differ substantially from the analogous distributions for charmonium production in one-photon electron-positron annihilation. For this reason, the process under consideration can readily be isolated despite the smallness caused by an extra power of α.     

Unparticle Effects on Axion-Like Particles Production in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> Collisions

In this work, we study the effects of the vector unparticle on e⁺e^?→ γa processes. From the numerical results, we show that the cross-section with unparticle effects should be about 10¹⁴ ??10²³ times larger than the one without unparticle effects. This could have important implication for axion like particle searches in near future experiments.     

Non-perturbative contribution to the thrust distribution in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilation

We re-evaluate the non-perturbative contribution to the thrust distribution in e ⁺ e ⁻→ hadrons, in the light of the latest experimental data and the recent NNLO perturbative calculation of this quantity. By extending the calculation to NNLO+NLL accuracy, we perform the most detailed study to date of the effects of non-perturbative physics on this observable. In particular, we investigate how well a model based on a low-scale QCD effective coupling can account for such effects. We find that the difference between the improved perturbative distribution and the experimental data is consistent with a 1/Q-dependent non-perturbative shift in the distribution, as predicted by the effective coupling model. Best fit values of α _s (91.2 GeV)=0.1164_−0.0026^+0.0028 and α ₀(2 GeV)=0.59±0.03 are obtained with χ ²/d.o.f.=1.09. This is consistent with NLO+NLL results but the quality of fit is improved. The agreement in α ₀ is non-trivial because a part of the 1/Q-dependent contribution (the infrared renormalon) is included in the NNLO perturbative correction. Address after 1 October 2008: Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, 1 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3NP, UK.     

Searching for doubly charged Higgs bosons in Möller scattering by resonance effects at linear <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> collider

We discuss the parity-violating left–right asymmetries (LRAs) in Möller scattering at the International Linear Collider (ILC) induced by doubly charged Higgs bosons in models with SU(2) _L triplet and singlet scalar bosons, which couple to the left- and right-handed charged leptons, respectively. These bosons are important in scenarios for the generation of the neutrino mass. We demonstrate that the contributions to the LRAs from the triplet and singlet bosons are opposite to each other. In particular, we show that the doubly charged Higgs boson from the singlet scalar can be tested at the ILC by using the resonance effect.     

On the question of supersymmetric particles production in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilation

Some aspects of supersymmetric particles pair production in e ⁺ e ^?-annihilation in processes \(e^ + + e^ - \to \tilde l^ + + \tilde l^ -\), \(e^ + + e^ - \to \tilde \chi ^ + + \tilde \chi ^ -\) are studied. Aparatus, in which long-lived charged particles deceleraition and accumulation take place, is considered. Binding energy of a negatively charged particle with nucleus is obtained. Probability of β-decay of a nucleus bounded with a long-lived negatively charged particle is considered.     

Investigation of the process <Emphasis Type="Italic">J/ψ</Emphasis> → <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> with the KEDR detector

The product of the electron width of the J/ψ meson and the probability for its decay to an electron-positron pair was measured by using data from the KEDR experiment at the VEPP-4M electron-positron collider. The result was Γ _ee × Γ _ee /Γ = 0.3392 ± 0.0068(stat.) ± 0.0063(syst.) keV.     

Radioactive Production of the Lightest Neutralino in the Process of <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> Annihilation

The production of the lightest stable neutralino in the reaction with general mixing of the higgsino and gaugino is studied. General formulas for differential cross sections are presented. The dependence of the effective differential cross section on the photon energy spectrum and electron mass is illustrated together with the dependence of the effective total cross section on the beam energy for three different scenarios. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 6, pp. 48–57, June, 2005.     

One-loop electro-weak corrections to three-jet observables of <Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis>-quarks <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilations

We compute the full one-loop EW contributions of entering the electron–positron into two b-quarks and one gluon cross section at the Z peak and LC energies. We include both factorisable and non-factorisable virtual corrections, photon bremsstrahlung but not the real emission of W ^± and Z bosons. Their importance for the measurement of α _S from jet rates and shape variables is explained qualitatively and illustrated quantitatively. Their impact on the forward–backward asymmetry is also analysed. Work supported in part by the U.K. Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), by the European Union (EU) under contract MRTN-CT-2006-035505 (HEPTOOLS FP6 RTN) and by the Italian Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR) under contract 2006020509_004. An erratum to this article can be found at     

One-loop electro-weak corrections to three-jet observables of <Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis>-quarks <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilations

We compute the full one-loop EW contributions of \({\mathcal{O}}(\alpha_{\mathrm{S}}\alpha_{\mathrm{EM}}^{3})\) entering the electron–positron into two b-quarks and one gluon cross section at the Z peak and LC energies. We include both factorisable and non-factorisable virtual corrections, photon bremsstrahlung but not the real emission of W ^± and Z bosons. Their importance for the measurement of α _S from jet rates and shape variables is explained qualitatively and illustrated quantitatively. Their impact on the forward–backward asymmetry is also analysed.     

QCD Corrections to Squark Production in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> Annihilation in the MSSM with Complex Parameters

We discuss the pair production of scalar quarks in e ⁺ e ⁻ annihilation within the MSSM with complex parameters. We calculate the SUSY-QCD corrections to the cross section and show that the effect of the CP phases of these complex parameters on the cross section can be quite strong in a large region of the MSSM parameter space. This could have important implications for squarks searches and the MSSM parameter determination in future collider experiments. PACS number(s): 14.80. Ly, 12.60. Jv, 13.10. + q, 13.88. +e.     

Spin physics at e<Superscript>+</Superscript>e<Superscript>−</Superscript> colliders

A large number of measurement related to spin was performed during the last decade at the e ⁺ e ^? colliders LEP and SLC providing important information on the dynamics of high energy interactions. In this paper three main topics will be covered: the measurements of the electroweak couplings, the study of fragmentation dynamics and the search for physics beyond the Standard Model.     

Wavelet analysis of data in particle physics: Vector mesons in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilation

The advantages that wavelet analysis (WA) provides for resolving the structures in experimental data are demonstrated. Due to good scaling properties of the wavelets, one can consider data with various resolutions, which allows the resonances to be separated from the background and from each other. The WA is much less sensitive to noise than any other analysis and allows the role of statistical errors to be substantially reduced. The WA is applied to the e ⁺ e ^? annihilation into hadron states with quantum numbers of ρ and ω mesons, and to p-wave ππ scattering. Distinguishing the resonance structures from an experimental noise and the background allows us to make more reliable conclusions about the ρ′ and ω′ states. The WA yields a useful set of starting conditions for analysis of ω′ states with the multiresonance Breit-Wigner method preserving unitarity in the case of overlapping resonances. We also apply the WA for the ratio \(R_{e^ + e^ - } \).