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Lattice determination of the neutrino background for J/ψ→γ+invisible

Yu Meng1,*, Ning Li2, Chuan Liu3,4,5,†, Haobo Yan3, Ke-Long Zhang6, and Xue-Ze Zhang1

  • *Contact author: yu_meng@zzu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: liuchuan@pku.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 014524 – Published 29 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3pm3-vmhh

Abstract

Searching for dark matter is a primary goal of modern astronomy and particle physics. Invisible decays of heavy quarkonia are particularly promising for probing light dark matter, attracting broad interest due to their unique sensitivity. Experiments searching for radiative invisible decays of the J/ψ have steadily improved upper limits, and upcoming facilities will push sensitivity further—making the precise determination and subtraction of the neutrino background indispensable. Here, we present the first lattice QCD calculation of the Standard Model decay J/ψ→γνν¯, an irreducible background to J/ψ→γ+invisible. Our result for the branching fraction is Br(J/ψ→γνν¯)=1.04(7)(8)×10−10, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is our systematic estimate. This work advances lattice-based determinations of neutrino backgrounds to quarkonium invisible decays, delivering an ab initio benchmark for J/ψ→γ+invisible. Our approach generalizes to other quarkonium channels (e.g., ϒ/ϕ→γ+invisible) and provides critical theoretical support for dark matter searches at colliders.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 014524– Published 29 July, 2026
  • Received 28 January 2026
  • Accepted 15 July 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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