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arxiv: hep-ex/0609059 · v2 · submitted 2006-09-29 · ✦ hep-ex

An Improved Limit on Invisible Decays of Positronium

A. Badertscher , P. Crivelli , W. Fetscher , U. Gendotti , S. Gninenko , V. Postoev , A. Rubbia , V. Samoylenko
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D. Sillou
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classification ✦ hep-ex
keywords timesinvisibledecaydecayslimitparticlesresultsbranching
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The results of a new search for positronium decays into invisible final states are reported. Convincing detection of this decay mode would be a strong evid ence for new physics beyond the Standard Model (SM): for example the existence of extra--dimensions, of milli-charged particles, of new light gauge bosons or of mirror particles. Mirror matter could be a relevant dark matter candidate. In this paper the setup and the results of a new experiment are presented. In a collected sample of about $(6.31\pm0.28) \times 10^6$ orthopositronium decay s, no evidence for invisible decays in an energy window [0,80] keV was found and an upper limit on the branching ratio of orthopositronium \invdecay could be set: $\binvdecay<4.2\times 10^{-7}$ (90% C.L.) Our results provide a limit on the photon mirror-photon mixing strength $\epsilon \leq 1.55\times 10^{-7}$ (90% C.L.) and rule out particles lighter than the electron mass with a fraction $Q_x \leq 3.4 \times 10^{-5}$ of the electron charge. Furthermore, upper limits on the branching ratios for the decay of parapositronium $Br(p-Ps\to invisible)\leq 4.3 \times 10^{-7}$ (90% C.L.) and the direct annihilation $Br(e^+e^-\to invisible)\leq 2.1 \times 10^{-8}$ (90% C.L.) could be set.

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