The observation of a resonance structure in the opening angle of the electron-positron pairs in the $$^{7}$$ Li(p,e $$^+$$ e $$^-$$ ) $$^{8}$$ Be reaction was claimed and interpreted as the production and subsequent decay of a hypothetical particle (X17). Similar excesses, consistent with this particle, were later observed in processes involving $$^{4}$$ He and $$^{12}$$ C nuclei with the same experimental technique. The MEG II apparatus at PSI, designed to search for the $$\mu ^+ \rightarrow \textrm{e}^+ \gamma $$ decay, can be exploited to investigate the existence of this particle and study its nature. Protons from a Cockroft–Walton accelerator, with an energy up to 1.1 MeV, were delivered on a dedicated Li-based target. The $$\gamma $$ and the e $$^{+}$$ e $$^{-}$$ pair emerging from the $$^8\textrm{Be}^*$$ transitions were studied with calorimeters and a spectrometer, featuring a broader angular acceptance than previous experiments. We present in this paper the analysis of a four-week data-taking in 2023 with a beam energy of 1080 keV, resulting in the excitation of two different resonances with Q-value 17.6 and 18.1 MeV. No significant signal was found, and limits at 90% C.L. on the branching ratios (relative to the $$\gamma $$ emission) of the two resonances to X17 were set, $$R_{17.6} <{1.8}\,\times \,10^{-6}$$ and $$R_{18.1} < {1.2}\,\times \,10^{-5}$$ in the mass range between $${16.5}\hbox { MeV}/\hbox {c}^{2}$$ and $${17.1}\hbox { MeV}/\hbox {c}^{2}$$ .

Russia

K. Afanaciev

Italy

A. Baldini

Japan

S. Ban

H. Benmansour

G. Boca

P. Cattaneo

G. Cavoto

F. Cei

M. Chiappini

A. Corvaglia

Switzerland

G. Maso

A. Bari

M. Gerone

L. Barusso

M. Francesconi

L. Galli

G. Gallucci

F. Gatti

L. Gerritzen

F. Grancagnolo

E. Grandoni

M. Grassi

D. Grigoriev

M. Hildebrandt

United Kingdom

F. Ignatov

F. Ikeda

T. Iwamoto

S. Karpov

P. Kettle

N. Khomutov

A. Kolesnikov

N. Kravchuk

V. Krylov

N. Kuchinskiy

F. Leonetti

W. Li

V. Malyshev

A. Matsushita

M. Meucci

S. Mihara

United States

W. Molzon

T. Mori

D. Nicolò

H. Nishiguchi

A. Ochi

W. Ootani

A. Oya

D. Palo

M. Panareo

A. Papa

V. Pettinacci

A. Popov

F. Renga

S. Ritt

M. Rossella

A. Rozhdestvensky

S. Scarpellini

P. Schwendimann

G. Signorelli

M. Takahashi

Y. Uchiyama

A. Venturini

B. Vitali

C. Voena

K. Yamamoto

R. Yokota

T. Yonemoto

Search for the X17 particle in $$^{7}\textrm{Li}(\textrm{p},\textrm{e}^+ \textrm{e}^{-}) ^{8}\textrm{Be}$$ processes with the MEG II detector

We investigate Λ production in the ( <math altimg='si146.svg'><msup><mrow><mi>&#960;</mi></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math>, <math altimg='si3.svg'><msup><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math>) reaction on a 6Li target at <math altimg='si4.svg'><msub><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>&#960;</mi></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></mrow></msub><mo linebreak='goodbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>=</mo><mn>1.05</mn></math> GeV/ <italic>c</italic>, using the distorted-wave impulse approximation (DWIA) with the Fermi-averaged <math altimg='si5.svg'><msup><mrow><mi>&#960;</mi></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup><mi>n</mi><mo stretchy='false'>&#8594;</mo><msup><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup><mi mathvariant='normal'>&#923;</mi></math> amplitudes. The calculated spectrum is in good agreement with the experimental data, suggesting that <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>&#923;</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math>- <italic>d</italic> configurations play a key role in describing the &#923; continuum states of <math altimg='si23.svg'><msubsup><mrow /><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>&#923;</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>6</mn></mrow></msubsup></math>Li near and above the <math altimg='si8.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>3</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts><mo linebreak='goodbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo><mi>d</mi><mo linebreak='goodbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo><mi mathvariant='normal'>&#923;</mi></math> threshold. Our analysis shows that the <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>&#923;</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> hypernucleus as a hyperfragment is prominently produced through <italic>D</italic>-wave resonances with <math altimg='si9.svg'><msup><mrow><mi>J</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>P</mi></mrow></msup><mo linebreak='goodbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>=</mo><msup><mrow><mn>3</mn></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math>, <math altimg='si10.svg'><msup><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math>, and <math altimg='si11.svg'><msup><mrow><mn>1</mn></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math> in the <math altimg='si108.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>&#923;</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts><mo linebreak='goodbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo><mi>d</mi></math> channel at a large momentum transfer <math altimg='si13.svg'><mi>q</mi><mo>&#8771;</mo><mn>360</mn></math>&#8211;400 MeV/ <italic>c</italic>. These findings provide theoretical evidence for the production of a <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>&#923;</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> hyperfragment via a cluster-like mechanism in the 6Li( <math altimg='si146.svg'><msup><mrow><mi>&#960;</mi></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math>, <math altimg='si3.svg'><msup><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math>) reaction.

Toru Harada

Yoshiharu Hirabayashi

Evidence for <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>&#923;</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> hyperfragment production in the 6Li( <italic>&#960;</italic> +, <italic>K</italic> +) reaction

The ultralight dark photon is an intriguing dark matter candidate. The interaction between visible and dark photons is introduced by the gauge kinetic mixing between the field strength tensors of the Abelian gauge groups in the Standard Model and dark sector. Relativistic electrodynamics was generalized to quantum electromagnetodynamics (QEMD) in the presence of both electric and magnetic charges. The photon is described by two four-potentials corresponding to two $ U(1) $ gauge groups and satisfying non-trivial commutation relations. In this work, we construct low-energy dark photon-photon interactions in the QEMD framework and obtain new dark photon-photon kinetic mixings. Then, we derive the consequent field and Maxwell's equations. We also investigate the detection strategies of dark photons as light dark matter and generic kinetic mixings at haloscope experiments.

China

Chang-Jie Dai

Tong Li

Rui-Jia Zhang

Dark photon dark matter in quantum electromagnetodynamics and detection at haloscope experiments * Li Tong is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12375096, 12035008, 11975129)

Cryogenic calorimetric experiments to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ( $$0\nu \beta \beta $$ ) are highly competitive, scalable and versatile in isotope. The largest planned detector array, CUPID, is comprised of about 1500 individual Li $$_{2}$$ $$^{100}$$ MoO $$_4$$ detector modules with a further scale up envisioned for a follow up experiment (CUPID-1T). In this article, we present a novel detector concept targeting this second stage with a low impedance TES based readout for the Li $$_2$$ MoO $$_4$$ absorber that is easily mass-produced and lends itself to a multiplexed readout. We present the detector design and results from a first prototype detector operated at the NEXUS shallow underground facility at Fermilab. The detector is a 2-cm-side cube with 21 g mass that is strongly thermally coupled to its readout chip to allow rise-times of $$\sim $$ 0.5 ms. This design is more than one order of magnitude faster than present NTD based detectors and is hence expected to effectively mitigate backgrounds generated through the pile-up of two independent two neutrino decay events coinciding close in time. Together with a baseline resolution of 1.95 keV (FWHM) these performance parameters extrapolate to a background index from pile-up as low as $$5\cdot 10^{-6}$$ counts/keV/kg/yr in CUPID size crystals. The detector was calibrated up to the MeV region showing sufficient dynamic range for $$0\nu \beta \beta $$ searches. In combination with a SuperCDMS HVeV detector this setup also allowed us to perform a precision measurement of the scintillation time constants of Li $$_2$$ MoO $$_4$$ , which showed a primary component with a fast O(20 $$\upmu $$ s) time scale.

G. Bratrud

C. Chang

R. Chen

Canada

E. Cudmore

E. Figueroa-Feliciano

Z. Hong

K. Kennard

S. Lewis

M. Lisovenko

L. Mateo

V. Novati

V. Novosad

France

E. Oliveri

R. Ren

J. Scarpaci

B. Schmidt

G. Wang

L. Winslow

V. Yefremenko

J. Zhang

D. Baxter

M. Hollister

C. James

P. Lukens

D. Temples

First demonstration of a TES based cryogenic Li $$_2$$ MoO $$_4$$ detector for neutrinoless double beta decay search

In this work we investigate the two-neutron decay of $^{13}$Li and of the excited states of $^{11}$Li populated via one-proton removal from $^{14}$Be and $^{12}$Be, respectively. A phenomenological model is used to describe the decay of $^{11}$Li and $^{13}$Li. While the first one displays important sequential components, the second one appears dominated by the direct two-neutron decay. A microscopic three-body model is used to extract information on the spatial configuration of the emitted neutrons before the decay and shows that the average distance between the neutrons increases going from $^{11}$Li to $^{13}$Li.

P. André

A. Corsi

A. Revel

Germany

Y. Kubota

Spain

J. Casal

K. Fossez

J. Gómez-Camacho

G. Authelet

H. Baba

C. Caesar

D. Calvet

A. Delbart

M. Dozono

J. Feng

F. Flavigny

J.M. Gheller

J. Gibelin

A. Giganon

A. Gillibert

K. Hasegawa

T. Isobe

Y. Kanaya

S. Kawakami

South Korea

D. Kim

Y. Kiyokawa

M. Kobayashi

N. Kobayashi

T. Kobayashi

Y. Kondo

Hungary

Z. Korkulu

S. Koyama

V. Lapoux

Y. Maeda

F.M. Marqués

T. Motobayashi

T. Miyazaki

T. Nakamura

N. Nakatsuka

Y. Nishio

A. Obertelli

A. Ohkura

N.A. Orr

S. Ota

H. Otsu

T. Ozaki

V. Panin

S. Paschalis

E.C. Pollacco

S. Reichert

J.Y. Rousse

A.T. Saito

S. Sakaguchi

M. Sako

C. Santamaria

M. Sasano

H. Sato

M. Shikata

Y. Shimizu

Y. Shindo

L. Stuhl

T. Sumikama

Y.L. Sun

M. Tabata

Y. Togano

J. Tsubota

T. Uesaka

Z.H. Yang

J. Yasuda

K. Yoneda

J. Zenihiro

Evolution of the two-neutron configuration from Li to Li

The measurement of the $^{7}$Be(d,$^{3}$He)$^{6}$Li* transfer cross section at 5 MeV/u is carried out. The population of the 2.186 MeV excited state of $^{6}$Li in this reaction channel is observed for the first time. The experimental angular distributions have been analyzed in the finite range DWBA and coupled-channel frameworks. The effect of the $^{7}$Be(d,$^{3}$He)$^{6}$Li reaction on both the $^{6}$Li and $^{7}$Li abundances are investigated at the relevant big-bang nucleosynthesis energies. The excitation function is calculated by TALYS and normalized to the experimental data. The S factor of the (d,$^{3}$He) channel from the present work is about 50% lower than existing data at nearby energies. At big-bang energies, the S factor is about three orders of magnitude smaller than that of the (<math><mi>d</mi><mo>,</mo><mi>p</mi></math>) channel. The (d,$^{3}$He) reaction rate is found to have a less than 0.1% effect on the $^{6,7}$Li abundances.