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Finding unexpected nonhelical tracks

Levi Condren and Daniel Whiteson

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 092020 – Published 29 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k9n2-d85w

Abstract

Many theories of physics beyond the Standard Model predict particles with nonhelical trajectories in a uniform magnetic field, but standard tracking algorithms assume helical paths and so are incapable of discovering nonhelical tracks. While alternative algorithms have been developed for specific trajectories, unforeseen physics could lead to unanticipated behavior, and such unexpected tracks are largely invisible to current algorithms, despite being potentially striking to the naked eye. A model-agnostic tracking algorithm is presented, capable of reconstructing a broad class of smooth nonhelical tracks without requiring explicit specification of particle trajectories, instead defining the target trajectories implicitly in the training sample. The network exhibits strong performance, even outside of the trajectories defined by the training sample. This proof-of-principle study takes the first step towards searches for unexpected tracks which may await discovery in current data.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 092020– Published 29 May, 2026
  • Received 30 September 2025
  • Accepted 25 February 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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