Speaker
Description
The Positron Annihilation into Dark Matter Experiment (PADME) has been designed with the intention to look for a signal of a dark photon [1], but it can investigate the existence of different feebly interacting particles (FIPs) produced in the interaction of a positron beam with a thin diamond target [2]. These particles are predicted by theories beyond the Standard Model developed to address the dark-matter problem with alternative approaches to the WIMP theory. In recent years, a nuclear physics experiment conducted at the ATOMKI of Debrecen reported an anomaly studying the de-excitation of $^8$Be via Internal Pair Creation that might represents the first evidence of a FIP of mass $\sim$17 MeV (X17) [3]. PADME has the unique possibility to verify the existence of this particle, by trying to produce resonantly the X17 via electron-positron annihilation studies [4]. This paper presents the experimental technique developed by the collaboration and the preliminary results of the ongoing analysis.
References
[1] B. Holdom, Phys. Lett. B 178 (1986) 65–70.
[2] P. Albicocco et al., JINST 17 (2022) 08, P08032.
[3] A. J. Krasznahorkay, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 (4) (2016) 042501.
[4] E. Nardi, C. D. R. Carvajal, A. Ghoshal, D. Meloni, M. Raggi, Phys. Rev. D 97 (9) (2018) 095004.
