New physics searches with heavy-ion collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider
Résumé
This document summarises proposed searches for new physics accessible in the heavy-ion mode at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), both through hadronic and ultraperipheral γγ interactions, and that have a competitive or, even, unique discovery potential compared to standard proton–proton collision studies. Illustrative examples include searches for new particles—such as axion-like pseudoscalars, radions, magnetic monopoles, new long-lived particles, dark photons, and sexaquarks as dark matter candidates—as well as new interactions, such as nonlinear or non-commutative QED extensions. We argue that such interesting possibilities constitute a well-justified scientific motivation, complementing standard quark-gluon-plasma physics studies, to continue running with ions at the LHC after the Run-4, i.e. beyond 2030, including light and intermediate-mass ion species, accumulating nucleon–nucleon integrated luminosities in the accessible fb−1 range per month.
Mots clés
beyond standard model
heavy ions
LHC
quantum electrodynamics: noncommutative
new physics: search for
heavy ion: scattering
particle: long-lived
quark gluon: plasma
p p: scattering
interpretation of experiments: CERN LHC Coll
magnetic monopole
new interaction
nucleon nucleon
new particle
pseudoscalar
dark matter
peripheral
nonlinear
photon