The REDTOP Experiment: A Precision $\eta$/$\eta$' Factory for New Physics in the MeV–GeV Range
ORAL · Invited
Abstract
The proposed REDTOP experiment is a high-intensity $eta$/$eta'$ factory designed to explore physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM), with a particular focus on Cold Dark Matter (CDM) in the MeV–GeV mass range—currently the least constrained region probed by previous experiments.
The $eta$ and $eta$′ mesons are nearly unique in the particle spectrum: all their quantum numbers vanish (except parity), a property otherwise shared only by the Higgs boson and the vacuum. Additionally, it is estimated that less than 80% of their internal structure is accounted for by known quark content, making them compelling probes of unknown strong or exotic dynamics. In this regard, REDTOP could be viewed as a low-energy analog of a Higgs factory.
REDTOP aims to produce more than $10^{14}$ $eta$ and $10^{12}$ $eta$′ mesons per year over a planned three-year run—representing a five-order-of-magnitude increase over current global samples. Such unprecedented statistics will enable searches for extremely rare processes, symmetry violations, and potential dark sector particles, through detailed studies of $eta$ and $eta$′ decays.
Recent studies confirm that REDTOP is uniquely sensitive to all four known portals connecting the dark sector to the Standard Model, a reach otherwise matched only by the SHIP experiment at CERN. The experiment also provides powerful tests of conservation laws and discrete symmetry violations, such as $C$, $P$, and $CP$, in flavor-conserving channels.
REDTOP innovative detector design plays a crucial role in the experiment, which requires only a modest proton beam of approximately 30 W, well within the capacity of several existing accelerator infrastructures.
Further details on the REDTOP physics program, detector concept, and potential host sites will be discussed in the presentation.
The $eta$ and $eta$′ mesons are nearly unique in the particle spectrum: all their quantum numbers vanish (except parity), a property otherwise shared only by the Higgs boson and the vacuum. Additionally, it is estimated that less than 80% of their internal structure is accounted for by known quark content, making them compelling probes of unknown strong or exotic dynamics. In this regard, REDTOP could be viewed as a low-energy analog of a Higgs factory.
REDTOP aims to produce more than $10^{14}$ $eta$ and $10^{12}$ $eta$′ mesons per year over a planned three-year run—representing a five-order-of-magnitude increase over current global samples. Such unprecedented statistics will enable searches for extremely rare processes, symmetry violations, and potential dark sector particles, through detailed studies of $eta$ and $eta$′ decays.
Recent studies confirm that REDTOP is uniquely sensitive to all four known portals connecting the dark sector to the Standard Model, a reach otherwise matched only by the SHIP experiment at CERN. The experiment also provides powerful tests of conservation laws and discrete symmetry violations, such as $C$, $P$, and $CP$, in flavor-conserving channels.
REDTOP innovative detector design plays a crucial role in the experiment, which requires only a modest proton beam of approximately 30 W, well within the capacity of several existing accelerator infrastructures.
Further details on the REDTOP physics program, detector concept, and potential host sites will be discussed in the presentation.
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Presenters
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Corrado Gatto
INFN & NIU
Authors
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Corrado Gatto
INFN & NIU