Explanation of the 17 MeV Atomki Anomaly in a $U(1)^\prime$-Extended 2-Higgs Doublet Model

Abstract

Motivated by an anomaly observed in the decay of an excited state of Beryllium by the Atomki collaboration, we study an extension of the Standard Model with a gauged $U(1)'$ symmetry in presence of a 2-Higgs Doublet Model structure of the Higgs sector. We show that this scenario complies with a variety of experimental results and is able to explain the potential presence of a resonant spin-1 gauge boson, $Z'$, with a mass of 17 MeV in the Atomki experimental data, for appropriate choices of $U(1)'$ charges and Yukawa interactions.

5 pages, 2 figures, published version