Speaker
Description
Although its main scientific mission is hadronic physics, in the last decade a new direction has emerged within the Jefferson Lab research program related to searches for new light particles, possibly explaining the Dark Matter problem. Experiments such as APEX,HPS and BDX-mini exploit the laboratory unique capabilities to produce and detect Dark Photons, i.e. hypothetical bosons constituting a "portal" to a new Dark Sector of particles. Future upgrades of the CEBAF accelerator will offer even more opportunities, such as the possibility to run light dark matter experiments using dedicated positron beams. After a brief overview of the relevant physics scenario, this contribution will review the current and future experimental efforts at JLAB.
