A new approach to long-lived particle detection at hadron colliders: the $\textsf{DELIGHT-SHIELD}$ concept

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Hauptverfasser: Bhattacherjee, Biplob, Chauhan, Arnav, Mukherjee, Swagata, Sengupta, Rhitaja, Sharma, Anand
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Bhattacherjee, Biplob
Chauhan, Arnav
Mukherjee, Swagata
Sengupta, Rhitaja
Sharma, Anand
author_facet Bhattacherjee, Biplob
Chauhan, Arnav
Mukherjee, Swagata
Sengupta, Rhitaja
Sharma, Anand
contents We propose a fundamental shift in the search for beyond the Standard Model long-lived particles (LLPs) at high-luminosity hadron colliders by prioritizing physical background suppression over traditional inner tracking. We introduce $\textsf{DELIGHT-SHIELD}$, a dedicated detector design for a 100 TeV Future Circular Collider at a dedicated interaction point for LLP searches. By replacing the inner parts of the detector with a multi-layered composite shield, followed by tracking volumes, we estimate a suppression of Standard Model hadronic and electromagnetic backgrounds by up to seven orders of magnitude analytically. Full Geant4 simulations validate the effectiveness of this design. Although the achieved suppression is somewhat lower than the analytical estimate, primarily due to secondary particle production within the shield, the residual background remains at a level that is manageable for LLP analyses. It can be further mitigated by applying energy thresholds, as well as vertexing and timing cuts in the downstream detector. Benchmarking against dark scalar model, we show that this shielding based detector concept achieves sensitivity to branching ratios as low as $\mathcal{O}(10^{-9})$ for $h\rightarrowϕϕ$ process under zero background condition $-$ outperforming general-purpose detector baselines. This strategy not only expands the discovery reach for neutral LLPs but also provides a rigorous experimental handle to distinguish new physics from Standard Model punch-through backgrounds. We further discuss a phased implementation at the High-Luminosity LHC as a critical testbed for this novel detection concept.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_18693
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A new approach to long-lived particle detection at hadron colliders: the $\textsf{DELIGHT-SHIELD}$ concept
Bhattacherjee, Biplob
Chauhan, Arnav
Mukherjee, Swagata
Sengupta, Rhitaja
Sharma, Anand
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Experiment
We propose a fundamental shift in the search for beyond the Standard Model long-lived particles (LLPs) at high-luminosity hadron colliders by prioritizing physical background suppression over traditional inner tracking. We introduce $\textsf{DELIGHT-SHIELD}$, a dedicated detector design for a 100 TeV Future Circular Collider at a dedicated interaction point for LLP searches. By replacing the inner parts of the detector with a multi-layered composite shield, followed by tracking volumes, we estimate a suppression of Standard Model hadronic and electromagnetic backgrounds by up to seven orders of magnitude analytically. Full Geant4 simulations validate the effectiveness of this design. Although the achieved suppression is somewhat lower than the analytical estimate, primarily due to secondary particle production within the shield, the residual background remains at a level that is manageable for LLP analyses. It can be further mitigated by applying energy thresholds, as well as vertexing and timing cuts in the downstream detector. Benchmarking against dark scalar model, we show that this shielding based detector concept achieves sensitivity to branching ratios as low as $\mathcal{O}(10^{-9})$ for $h\rightarrowϕϕ$ process under zero background condition $-$ outperforming general-purpose detector baselines. This strategy not only expands the discovery reach for neutral LLPs but also provides a rigorous experimental handle to distinguish new physics from Standard Model punch-through backgrounds. We further discuss a phased implementation at the High-Luminosity LHC as a critical testbed for this novel detection concept.
title A new approach to long-lived particle detection at hadron colliders: the $\textsf{DELIGHT-SHIELD}$ concept
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.18693