$Z$ Boson Decay into Light and Darkness

Abstract

We study the $Z\rightarrow γ\bar γ$ process in which the $Z$ boson decays into a photon $γ$ and a massless dark photon $\bar γ$, when the latter couples to standard-model fermions via dipole moments. This is a simple yet nontrivial example of how the Landau-Yang theorem---ruling out the decay of a massive spin-1 particle into two photons---is evaded if the final particles can be distinguished. The striking signature of this process is a resonant monochromatic single photon in the $Z$-boson center of mass together with missing momentum. LEP experimental bounds allow a branching ratio up to about 10$^{-6}$ for such a decay. In a simplified model of the dark sector, the dark-photon dipole moments arise from one-loop exchange of heavy dark fermions and scalar messengers. The corresponding prediction for the rare $Z\to γ\bar γ$ decay width can be explored with the large samples of $Z$ bosons foreseen at future colliders.

Same as published PRL version, minor comments added, 5 pages, 3 figures