A search for meson decays to the and final states is reported using a sample of proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of . The decay is observed for the first time when requiring that the two electrons are consistent with coming from the decay of a or meson. The corresponding branching fractions are measured relative to the decay, where the two electrons are consistent with coming from the decay of a or meson. No evidence is found for the decay and world-best limits are set on its branching fraction. The results are compared to, and found to be consistent with, the branching fractions of the and decays recently measured by LHCb and confirm lepton universality at the current precision. © 2025 CERN, for the LHCb Collaboration2025CERN
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This content will become publicly available on March 1, 2027
First Search for Dark Sector e+e− Explanations of the MiniBooNE Anomaly at MicroBooNE
We present MicroBooNE’s first search for dark sector explanations of the long-standing MiniBooNE anomaly. The MiniBooNE anomaly has garnered significant attention over the past 20 years including previous MicroBooNE investigations into both anomalous electron and photon excesses, but its origin still remains unclear. In this Letter, we provide the first direct test of dark sector models in which dark neutrinos, produced through neutrino-induced scattering, decay into missing energy and visible pairs comprising the MiniBooNE anomaly. Many such models have recently gained traction as a viable solution to the anomaly while evading past bounds. Using an exposure of protons-on-target in the Booster Neutrino Beam, we implement a selection targeting forward-going, coherently produced events. After unblinding, we observe 95 events, which we compare with the constrained background-only prediction of . This analysis sets the world’s first direct limits on these dark sector models and, at the 95% confidence level, excludes the entirety of the single dark neutrino and majority of the dual dark neutrino, parameter space that is viable as a solution to the MiniBooNE anomaly.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2207171
- PAR ID:
- 10701422
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- PRL
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review Letters
- Volume:
- 136
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 0031-9007
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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