Abstract
We perform a global QCD analysis of high energy scattering data within the JAM Monte Carlo framework, including a coupling to a dark photon that augments the Standard Model (SM) electroweak coupling via kinetic mixing with the hypercharge B boson. We first set limits on the dark photon mass and mixing parameter assuming that the SM is the true theory of Nature, taking into account also the effect on g – 2 of the muon. If instead we entertain the possibility that the dark photon may play a role in deep-inelastic scattering (DIS), we find that the best fit is preferred over the SM at 6.5σ, even after accounting for missing higher order uncertainties. The improvement in χ2 with the dark photon is stable against all the tests we have applied, with the improvements in the theoretical predictions spread across a wide range of x and Q2. The largest improvement corresponds to the fixed target and HERA DIS data, while the best fit yields a value of g – 2 which significantly reduces the disagreement with the latest experimental determination.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge helpful discussions with Tomás Gonzalo, Gary Hill, Dipan Sengupta, Anthony Williams and Ross Young. This work was supported by the DOE contract No. DE-AC05-06OR23177, under which Jefferson Science Associates, LLC operates Jefferson Lab; and by the University of Adelaide and the Australian Research Council through the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics (CE200100008) and Discovery Project DP180102209 (MJW). The work of NS was supported by the DOE, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics in the Early Career Program.
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Hunt-Smith, N.T., Melnitchouk, W., Sato, N. et al. Global QCD analysis and dark photons. J. High Energ. Phys. 2023, 96 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2023)096
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2023)096