Disappearing Tracks from Electroweak Vector Dark Matter at the LHC
Abstract
We study the disappearing-track signature of a spin-1 minimal dark matter candidate transforming in the real five-dimensional representation of SU(2)L with vanishing hypercharge. Radiative electroweak corrections induce a compressed mass spectrum among the multiplet components, allowing the singly charged state V± to attain a macroscopic lifetime and decay via V± → V0 π± inside tracking detectors. We recast the ATLAS search for disappearing tracks with the full Run-2 dataset of 137 fb−1, originally targeted at long-lived charginos, computing the tracklet reconstruction probability analytically from the published efficiency so that the full lifetime range is covered. The procedure reproduces the ATLAS limits for pure winos within 6% in mass. The Run-2 data exclude quintuplet masses up to 1080 GeV for proper decay lengths cτ≃ 250 mm, and MV < 630 GeV for a mass splitting of 166 MeV. For the radiative mass splitting predicted by the model with a small Higgs-portal coupling, masses between 120 GeV and 240−−300 GeV are excluded. With 3 ab−1 and a Run-2-like analysis, the sensitivity would extend to 1750 GeV for vanishing background and to 1530 GeV for a linear extrapolation of the instrumental background.
Related
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- Displaced tracks as a signal of dark matter co-annihilation: a case study using inert doublet model at e+e- collider
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- A Peccei-Quinn Origin for Inelastic Electroweak Dark Matter after LUX-ZEPLIN
BibTeX
@misc{hernandezpinto2026disappearing,
title = {{Disappearing Tracks from Electroweak Vector Dark Matter at the LHC}},
author = {Fabián Hernández-Pinto and Patricio Escalona and Alfonso Zerwekh},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.14182},
eprint = {2610.14182},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14182},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Disappearing Tracks from Electroweak Vector Dark Matter at the LHC
AU - Fabián Hernández-Pinto
AU - Patricio Escalona
AU - Alfonso Zerwekh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.14182
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14182
AB - We study the disappearing-track signature of a spin-1 minimal dark matter candidate transforming in the real five-dimensional representation of SU(2)_L with vanishing hypercharge. Radiative electroweak corrections induce a compressed mass spectrum among the multiplet components, allowing the singly charged state V^± to attain a macroscopic lifetime and decay via V^± → V^0 π^± inside tracking detectors. We recast the ATLAS search for disappearing tracks with the full Run-2 dataset of 137 fb^−1, originally targeted at long-lived charginos, computing the tracklet reconstruction probability analytically from the published efficiency so that the full lifetime range is covered. The procedure reproduces the ATLAS limits for pure winos within 6% in mass. The Run-2 data exclude quintuplet masses up to 1080 GeV for proper decay lengths cτ≃ 250 mm, and M_V < 630 GeV for a mass splitting of 166 MeV. For the radiative mass splitting predicted by the model with a small Higgs-portal coupling, masses between 120 GeV and 240−−300 GeV are excluded. With 3 ab^−1 and a Run-2-like analysis, the sensitivity would extend to 1750 GeV for vanishing background and to 1530 GeV for a linear extrapolation of the instrumental background.
ER -