IIHE invited seminar: Searching for millicharged signatures of the dark sector (Matthew Citron)

Wednesday 13 Dec 2023, 14:30 → 16:00 Europe/Brussels

Abstract:

Hidden sector models of dark matter are the focus of a large number of searches at the LHC and beyond. An underexplored signature of such theories is the production of particles with a small fractional electric charge. These "millicharged particles" may be produced copiously at facilities such as the LHC. However, due to their very small energy depositions, general purpose detectors are blind to them. I will show how this blind spot can be closed through the use of dedicated detectors that consist of several layers of long scintillator bars, paired with high-gain, low-noise photomultiplier tubes. In this talk I will cover results from the milliQan demonstrator, which ran very successfully at the LHC, the ongoing Run 3 milliQan experiment, as well as plans for the forward FORMOSA detector for the HL-LHC. Finally, I will discuss complementary experiments at high intensity facilities. 

Bio:

Dr Matthew Citron has been an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department at UC Davis since 2023. He obtained his PhD from Imperial College London where he worked on searches for supersymmetry with the CMS detector at the LHC. He then took a Postdoc appointment at UC Santa Barbara where he worked on searches for long-lived signatures of new physics. At UC Davis his research focusses on searches for exotic signatures of dark sectors using both the general purpose CMS detector as well as constructing and operating dedicated detectors at the LHC and beyond.