Physicists at CMS are trying to change that.
Higgs bosons are thought to decay into dark photons, which then would decay into displaced muons.
The CMS Collaboration is working to constrain the parameters at which that process would occur.
A superconducting CMS magnet at CERN.Photo: Lionel FLUSIN/Gamma-Rapho (Getty Images)
Thanks to these improvements, if dark photons exist, CMS is now much more likely to find them.
Despite their longevity, they are difficult to spotwhich is why no one has done so yet.
In fact, the search for dark photons has been going on for years.
A graphic showing how muons’ signals can be traced back to the long-lived particle decay points.Graphic: CMS/CERN
Dark photon searches are simultaneously straightforward and challenging, physicist James Beachamtold Gizmodo in 2018.
The HL-LHC is expected to be ready for operation by 2029.
In the meantime, the LHCs Run 3 will continue through 2026.
At least for now.
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