Abstract

Millicharged particles appear in several extensions of the standard model, but have not yet been detected. These hypothetical particles could be produced by an intense proton beam striking a fixed target. We use data collected in 2020 by the SENSEI experiment in the MINOS cavern at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to search for ultrarelativistic millicharged particles produced in collisions of protons in the NuMI beam with a fixed graphite target. The absence of any ionization events with 3 to 6 electrons in the SENSEI data allow us to place world-leading constraints on millicharged particles for masses between 30 to 380 MeV. This work also demonstrates the potential of utilizing low-threshold detectors to investigate new particles in beam-dump experiments, and motivates a future experiment designed specifically for this purpose.

Original languageEnglish
Article number071801
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume133
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Aug 2024

Funding

FundersFunder number
Ambrose Monell Foundation
Major Science Initiatives Fund
Fermi Research Alliance, LLC
Canada Foundation for Innovation
I-CORE Program of the Planning Budgeting Committee
European Research Council
Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics
Institute for Advanced Study
Heising-Simons Foundation79921
Heising-Simons Foundation
Azrieli FoundationDE-SC0020250, DEAC02-07CHI11359
Azrieli Foundation
Israel Science Foundation1937/12
Israel Science Foundation
U.S. Department of EnergyDE-AC02-07CH11359
U.S. Department of Energy
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme682676 LDMThExp
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Ministry of Training, Colleges and UniversitiesDE-SC0011842, DE-SC0022345
Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
Office of Science623940, DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-SC0009854
Office of Science
High Energy PhysicsDE-SC0011632
High Energy Physics

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