Search for long-lived heavy charged particles using a ring imaging Cherenkov technique at LHCb

Area of Science:

• High Energy Physics
• Particle Physics
• Standard Model Extensions

Background:

• Searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model are crucial for understanding fundamental interactions.
• The existence of heavy, long-lived charged particles is predicted by some theoretical extensions.
• Previous searches have constrained the parameter space for such particles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To search for heavy, long-lived charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions.
• To set limits on the production cross-section of these hypothetical particles.
• To probe new regions of parameter space for new physics.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 3.0 fb⁻¹ of proton-proton collision data collected at 7 and 8 TeV.
• Employed the LHCb detector, focusing on the ring imaging Cherenkov detectors.
• Distinguished slow-moving heavy particles from muons based on Cherenkov detector response.

Main Results:

• No evidence for the production of heavy, long-lived charged particles was observed.
• Upper limits were placed on the Drell-Yan production cross-section for pairs of such particles.
• Limits are valid for particles within the LHCb pseudorapidity acceptance.

Conclusions:

• The absence of a signal provides stringent constraints on the existence of these particles.
• The study sets mass-dependent cross-section upper limits between 2-4 fb at 95% confidence level for masses from 14 to 309 GeV.
• This search contributes to the ongoing effort to discover new fundamental particles and interactions.