Topical Seminar: Enlightening the dark sector with elusive light particles

by Ana Luisa Foguel (Sao Paulo Univ.)

Friday 20 Jun 2025, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Madrid

1001-Primera-1-1-1 - Paterna. Seminario (Universe)

 Despite its great triumphs, nowadays it is well-know that the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics remains an incomplete theory, as a range of unsolved questions persist. In this context, the search for phenomena that lie beyond the SM (BSM) gains even greater significance. Although originally such searches focused on the evidence of new heavy particles, more recently several experiments have become capable of probing dark sectors with feebly interacting light particles, pushing particle physics into the 'intensity frontier' era. In this talk, I will discuss the theory and phenomenology of different minimal BSM extensions related to the three possible renormalizable interactions (‘portals’) connecting the new dark sector to the SM. In particular, I will focus on models introducing new light particles, such as the dark photon, the dark Higgs, and axion-like-particles. Finally, I will explore a realization of the dark vector portal in connection with inelastic dark matter candidates.