The CMS experiment at CERN has conducted the first search for soft unclustered energy patterns (SUEPs) in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, as predicted by hidden valley models. These models suggest a dark sector with unique decay signatures, which have been challenging to detect. The CMS team used innovative techniques to differentiate SUEPs from standard model jets, setting new constraints and paving the way for future research in this area.
The CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider has initiated a search for "dark photons," hypothetical long-lived particles that could be produced by the decay of Higgs bosons. These particles are not part of the Standard Model and could help answer unresolved physics questions. The search involves detecting "displaced muons" that originate from the decay of dark photons, which would have traveled a measurable distance before decaying. With improvements to the CMS trigger system, particularly the non-pointing muon algorithm, the experiment has become more sensitive to such events. The first results from Run 3 data have set more stringent limits on the parameters of Higgs boson decay to dark photons, and the CMS team plans to continue refining their techniques to explore new physics beyond the Standard Model.
