Speaker: Felix Kahlhoefer, RWTH Aachen
Title: Phenomenology of MeV-scale axion-like particles
Abstract:
Many extensions of the Standard Model feature new symmetries that are broken at low energies, giving rise to Pseudo-Goldstone bosons with naturally small masses and couplings. These so-called axion-like particles (ALPs) can constitute some or all of dark matter or mediate the interactions between dark matter and Standard Model particles. In my talk I will review the effective theory used to describe the interactions of ALPs and discuss the resulting phenomenology. A particular focus will be on MeV-scale ALPs, which can be explored with a wide range of particle physics experiments, such as precision measurements of rare meson decays, electron-positron colliders, and fixed-target experiments. I will also mention astrophysical constraints, in particular from supernovae, and possible hints for keV-scale ALPs at the XENON1T experiment.