- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review D

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Identifying charged leptonlike portal matter at future colliders

Thomas G. Rizzo*

  • *Contact author: rizzo@slac.stanford.edu
PDF

Phys. Rev. D 113, 055001 – Published 2 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/xnfn-lbl1

Abstract

In the kinetic mixing (KM) portal scenario, the interaction of dark matter (DM) with the particles of the Standard Model (SM) is generated by diagrams connecting the familiar photon with its dark sector analog, the dark photon (DP), via loops of particles carrying both dark and SM quantum numbers, i.e., portal matter (PM). For the case of sub-GeV DM and DP, these PM states may lie in the ∼1–10  TeV range and be potentially accessible at the HL-LHC as well as at other future lepton and hadron colliders. In perhaps the simplest scenario of this kind, PM consists of just a pair of electrically charged, iso- and color-singlet, vectorlike (VL) fermions having opposite dark charges, with an O(1) mass splitting, yielding a finite value for the strength of the KM, i.e., ε∼a few×10−4. The dark Higgs induced mixing of PM states with their SM analogs allows for their decay but can also lead to significant distortions in the expected production properties for the PM at future lepton colliders due to t-channel dark Higgs exchange, potentially confusing PM identification. We show that the large set of clean observables available at lepton colliders is more that sufficient to resolve any of these ambiguities. The possibility of the production of like-sign PM fields via t/u-channel exchange of the same dark Higgs is also briefly explored.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (97)

  1. For a recent review, see B. Carr and F. Kuhnel, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 70, 355 (2020).
  2. N. Aghanim et al. (Planck Collaboration), Astron. Astrophys. 641, A6 (2020); 652, C4(E) (2021).
  3. M. Kawasaki and K. Nakayama, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 63, 69 (2013).
  4. P. W. Graham, I. G. Irastorza, S. K. Lamoreaux, A. Lindner, and K. A. van Bibber, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 65, 485 (2015).
  5. I. G. Irastorza and J. Redondo, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 102, 89 (2018).
  6. G. Arcadi, M. Dutra, P. Ghosh, M. Lindner, Y. Mambrini, M. Pierre, S. Profumo, and F. S. Queiroz, Eur. Phys. J. C 78, 203 (2018).
  7. L. Roszkowski, E. M. Sessolo, and S. Trojanowski, Rep. Prog. Phys. 81, 066201 (2018).
  8. G. Arcadi, D. Cabo-Almeida, M. Dutra, P. Ghosh, M. Lindner, Y. Mambrini, J. P. Neto, M. Pierre, S. Profumo, and F. S. Queiroz, Eur. Phys. J. C 85, 152 (2025).
  9. K. Pachal, Dark matter searches at ATLAS and CMS, Given at the 8th Edition of the Large Hadron Collider Physics Conference (2020).
  10. E. Aprile et al. (XENON Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 111302 (2018).
  11. A. Albert et al. (Fermi-LAT and DES Collaborations), Astrophys. J. 834, 110 (2017).
  12. C. Amole et al. (PICO Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 100, 022001 (2019).
  13. J. Aalbers et al. (LZ Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 041002 (2023).
  14. Z. Bo et al. (PandaX Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 011805 (2025).
  15. M. F. Albakry et al. (SuperCDMS Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 111, 012006 (2025).
  16. E. Aprile, J. Aalbers, K. Abe, S. Ahmed Maouloud, L. Althueser, B. Andrieu, E. Angelino, D. A. Martin, F. Arneodo, L. Baudis et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 161004 (2025).
  17. J. Alexander et al., arXiv:1608.08632.
  18. M. Battaglieri et al., arXiv:1707.04591.
  19. G. Bertone, T. Tait, and M. P., Nature (London) 562, 51 (2018).
  20. J. Cooley, T. Lin, W. H. Lippincott, T. R. Slatyer, T. T. Yu, D. S. Akerib, T. Aramaki, D. Baxter, T. Bringmann, R. Bunker et al., arXiv:2209.07426.
  21. A. Boveia, T. Y. Chen, C. Doglioni, A. Drlica-Wagner, S. Gori, W. H. Lippincott, M. E. Monzani, C. Prescod-Weinstein, B. Shakya, T. R. Slatyer et al., arXiv:2210.01770.
  22. P. Schuster, N. Toro, and K. Zhou, Phys. Rev. D 105, 035036 (2022).
  23. M. Cirelli, A. Strumia, and J. Zupan, arXiv:2406.01705.
  24. G. Lanfranchi, M. Pospelov, and P. Schuster, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 71, 279 (2021).
  25. G. Steigman, B. Dasgupta, and J. F. Beacom, Phys. Rev. D 86, 023506 (2012).
  26. G. Steigman, Phys. Rev. D 91, 083538 (2015).
  27. K. Saikawa and S. Shirai, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 08 (2020) 011.
  28. B. W. Lee and S. Weinberg, Phys. Rev. Lett. 39, 165 (1977).
  29. E. W. Kolb and K. A. Olive, Phys. Rev. D 33, 1202 (1986); 34, 2531(E) (1986).
  30. B. Holdom, Phys. Lett. 166B, 196 (1986); Phys. Lett. B 178, 65 (1986); K. R. Dienes, C. F. Kolda, and J. March-Russell, Nucl. Phys. B492, 104 (1997); F. Del Aguila, Acta Phys. Pol. B 25, 1317 (1994); K. S. Babu, C. F. Kolda, and J. March-Russell, Phys. Rev. D 54, 4635 (1996); T. G. Rizzo, 59, 015020 (1998).
  31. There has been a huge amount of historical work on this subject; see, for example, D. Feldman, B. Kors, and P. Nath, Phys. Rev. D 75, 023503 (2007); D. Feldman, Z. Liu, and P. Nath, 75, 115001 (2007); M. Pospelov, A. Ritz, and M. B. Voloshin, Phys. Lett. B 662, 53 (2008); M. Pospelov, Phys. Rev. D 80, 095002 (2009); H. Davoudiasl, H. S. Lee, and W. J. Marciano, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 031802 (2012); Phys. Rev. D 85, 115019 (2012); R. Essig et al., arXiv:1311.0029; E. Izaguirre, G. Krnjaic, P. Schuster, and N. Toro, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 251301 (2015); M. Khlopov, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 28, 1330042 (2013); For a general overview and introduction to this framework, see D. Curtin, R. Essig, S. Gori, and J. Shelton, J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2015) 157.
  32. T. Gherghetta, J. Kersten, K. Olive, and M. Pospelov, Phys. Rev. D 100, 095001 (2019).
  33. M. Fabbrichesi, E. Gabrielli, and G. Lanfranchi, arXiv:2005.01515.
  34. M. Graham, C. Hearty, and M. Williams, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 71, 37 (2021).
  35. D. Barducci, E. Bertuzzo, G. Grilli di Cortona, and G. M. Salla, J. High Energy Phys. 12 (2021) 081.
  36. S. Li, J. M. Yang, M. Zhang, and R. Zhu, Phys. Rev. D 111, 035005 (2025).
  37. For a recent review of vectorlike fermions, see A. E. Cárcamo Hernández, K. Kowalska, H. Lee, and D. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 109, 035010 (2024).
  38. A. Hayrapetyan et al. (CMS Collaboration), Phys. Rep. 1115, 570 (2025).
  39. J. M. Alves, G. C. Branco, A. L. Cherchiglia, C. C. Nishi, J. T. Penedo, P. M. F. Pereira, M. N. Rebelo, and J. I. Silva-Marcos, Phys. Rep. 1057, 1 (2024).
  40. A. Banerjee, E. Bergeaas Kuutmann, V. Ellajosyula, R. Enberg, G. Ferretti, and L. Panizzi, SciPost Phys. Core 7, 079 (2024).
  41. G. Guedes and J. Santiago, J. High Energy Phys. 01 (2022) 111.
  42. A. Adhikary, M. Olechowski, J. Rosiek, and M. Ryczkowski, Phys. Rev. D 110, 075029 (2024).
  43. R. Benbrik, M. Boukidi, M. Ech-chaouy, S. Moretti, K. Salime, and Q. S. Yan, J. High Energy Phys. 03 (2025) 020.
  44. F. Albergaria, J. F. Bastos, B. Belfatto, G. C. Branco, J. T. Penedo, A. Rodríguez-Sánchez, and J. I. Silva-Marcos, J. High Energy Phys. 08 (2025) 061.
  45. C. Y. Chen, S. Dawson, and E. Furlan, Phys. Rev. D 96, 015006 (2017).
  46. A. Biekötter, J. L. Hewett, J. S. Kim, M. Krämer, T. G. Rizzo, K. Rolbiecki, J. Tattersall, and T. Weber, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 32, 1750032 (2017).
  47. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 99, 115024 (2019).
  48. T. D. Rueter and T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 101, 015014 (2020).
  49. J. H. Kim, S. D. Lane, H. S. Lee, I. M. Lewis, and M. Sullivan, Phys. Rev. D 101, 035041 (2020).
  50. T. D. Rueter and T. G. Rizzo, arXiv:2011.03529.
  51. G. N. Wojcik and T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 105, 015032 (2022).
  52. T. G. Rizzo, J. High Energy Phys. 11 (2021) 035.
  53. T. G. Rizzo, arXiv:2202.02222.
  54. G. N. Wojcik, Phys. Rev. D 108, 035006 (2023).
  55. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 106, 035024 (2022).
  56. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 106, 095024 (2022).
  57. A. Carvunis, N. McGinnis, and D. E. Morrissey, J. High Energy Phys. 01 (2023) 014.
  58. S. Verma, S. Biswas, A. Chatterjee, and J. Ganguly, Phys. Rev. D 107, 115024 (2023).
  59. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 107, 095014 (2023).
  60. G. N. Wojcik, L. L. Everett, S. T. Eu, and R. Ximenes, Phys. Lett. B 841, 137931 (2023).
  61. G. N. Wojcik, L. L. Everett, S. T. Eu, and R. Ximenes, Phys. Rev. D 108, 055033 (2023).
  62. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 108, 055021 (2023).
  63. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 109, 055039 (2024).
  64. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 110, 075037 (2024).
  65. M. Ardu, M. H. Rahat, N. Valori, and O. Vives, J. High Energy Phys. 11 (2024) 049.
  66. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 111, 075018 (2025).
  67. T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 112, 015029 (2025).
  68. T. R. Slatyer, Phys. Rev. D 93, 023527 (2016).
  69. H. Liu, T. R. Slatyer, and J. Zavala, Phys. Rev. D 94, 063507 (2016).
  70. R. K. Leane, T. R. Slatyer, J. F. Beacom, and K. C. Ng, Phys. Rev. D 98, 023016 (2018).
  71. Y. N. Wang, X. C. Duan, T. P. Tang, Z. Wang, and Y. L. S. Tsai, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 08 (2025) 059.
  72. J. Koechler, Proc. Sci., TAUP2023 (2024) 044 [arXiv:2309.10043].
  73. P. De la Torre Luque, S. Balaji, and J. Silk, Astrophys. J. Lett. 973, L6 (2024).
  74. G. Wang, B. Y. Su, L. Zu, and L. Feng, Eur. Phys. J. C 85, 1348 (2025).
  75. G. Bélanger, S. Chakraborti, Y. Génolini, and P. Salati, Phys. Rev. D 110, 023039 (2024).
  76. A. Omar and A. Ritz, Phys. Rev. D 113, 035004 (2026).
  77. N. Brahma, S. Heeba, and K. Schutz, Phys. Rev. D 109, 035006 (2024).
  78. S. Balan, C. Balázs, T. Bringmann, C. Cappiello, R. Catena, T. Emken, T. E. Gonzalo, T. R. Gray, W. Handley, Q. Huynh et al., J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 01 (2025) 053.
  79. See, for example, G. D. V. Garcia, F. Kahlhoefer, M. Ovchynnikov, and T. Schwetz, J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2025) 127.
  80. G. Mohlabeng, A. Mondol, and T. M. P. Tait, Phys. Rev. D 111, 056003 (2025).
  81. H. Davoudiasl and W. J. Marciano, Phys. Rev. D 92, 035008 (2015).
  82. A. Reilly and N. Toro, J. High Energy Phys. 01 (2024) 089.
  83. K. Tewary, S. Biswas, and S. Verma, arXiv:2511.00578.
  84. For related work on the possibilities of KM and DM physics employing this same gauge group, see M. Bauer and P. Foldenauer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 171801 (2022).
  85. J. L. Hewett and T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rep. 183, 193 (1989).
  86. L. Shang, M. Wang, Z. Heng, and B. Yang, Eur. Phys. J. C 81, 415 (2021).
  87. Q. Guo, L. Gao, Y. Mao, and Q. Li, Chin. Phys. C 47, 103106 (2023).
  88. C. X. Yue, Y. Q. Wang, H. Wang, Y. H. Wang, and S. Li, Nucl. Phys. B1000, 116482 (2024).
  89. M. S. Chanowitz and M. K. Gaillard, Nucl. Phys. B261, 379 (1985); B. W. Lee, C. Quigg, and H. B. Thacker, Phys. Rev. D 16, 1519 (1977); J. M. Cornwall, D. N. Levin, and G. Tiktopoulos, 10, 1145 (1974); 11, 972(E) (1975); G. J. Gounaris, R. Kogerler, and H. Neufeld, 34, 3257 (1986).
  90. See, for example, A. Freitas, A. von Manteuffel, and P. M. Zerwas, Eur. Phys. J. C 34, 487 (2004).
  91. J. de Blas et al. (CLIC Collaboration), CERN Yellow Rep. Monogr. 3, 1 (2018); M. Aicheler, P. Burrows, M. Draper, T. Garvey, P. Lebrun, K. Peach, N. Phinney, H. Schmickler, D. Schulte, and N. Toge, Report No. CERN-2012-007.
  92. M. Bai, T. Barklow, R. Bartoldus, M. Breidenbach, P. Grenier, Z. Huang, M. Kagan, J. Lewellen, Z. Li, T. W. Markiewicz et al., arXiv:2110.15800.
  93. S. Gessner, T. Barklow, M. Hogan, A. Knetsch, N. Majernik, B. O’Shea, M. Peskin, A. Schwartzman, D. Storey, C. Vernieri et al., arXiv:2503.20214.
  94. C. Accettura, D. Adams, R. Agarwal, C. Ahdida, C. Aimè, N. Amapane, D. Amorim, P. Andreetto, F. Anulli, R. Appleby et al., Eur. Phys. J. C 83, 864 (2023); 84, 36(E) (2024); C. Aime, A. Apyan, M. A. Mahmoud Mohammed, N. Bartosik, F. Batsch, A. Bertolin, M. Bonesini, S. Bottaro, D. Buttazzo, R. M. Capdevilla Roldan et al., arXiv:2203.07256; J. de Blas et al. (Muon Collider Collaboration), arXiv:2203.07261.
  95. K. M. Black, S. Jindariani, D. Li, F. Maltoni, P. Meade, D. Stratakis, D. Acosta, R. Agarwal, K. Agashe, C. Aimè et al., J. Instrum. 19, T02015 (2024).
  96. H. Abramowicz et al. (Linear Collider Vision Collaboration), arXiv:2503.19983; Y. Abe, S. Arai, S. Araki, H. Araki, Y. Arimoto, A. Aryshev, S. Asai, R. Bajpai, T. Behnke, S. Belomestnykh et al., arXiv:2505.11292; A. Subba et al. (Linear Collider Collaboration), arXiv:2503.24049; A. Aryshev et al. (ILC International Development Team), arXiv:2203.07622; M. C. Llatas, S. Dasu, U. Heintz, E. A. Nanni, J. Power, and S. Wagner, arXiv:2209.03472.
  97. We follow the analyses as given in S. D. Rindani, Phys. Lett. B 602, 97 (2004); T. G. Rizzo, J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2003) 008; 08 (2003) 051; J. L. Hewett and T. G. Rizzo, Phys. Rev. D 36, 3367 (1987).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. D 113, 055001– Published 2 March, 2026
  • Received 2 December 2025
  • Accepted 11 February 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

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.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation