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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 35: Searches/BSM II

T 35.8: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 18:00–18:15, KH 02.018

Light Dark Matter simulation studies with GEANT4 for the DarkMESA experiment — •Saskia Plura for the MAGIX collaboration — Institute for Nuclear Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany

Dark Matter searches are an integral part of physics beyond the Standard Model. However, Dark Matter has yet to be observed directly. Theoretical models provide a large parameter space for Dark Matter and allow for different particle properties. Models incorporating so-called portal interactions, which allow Dark Matter to interact with Standard Model matter, are of special interest. Examples for these are Dark Photons and Axion-like particles (ALPs), which can be studied at low energy accelerator facilities.

The DarkMESA experiment is a beam dump experiment located at the upcoming accelerator MESA at the JGU Mainz, set to start operation in 2026. The accelerator provides an electron beam of 155   MeV and 150   µ A in extracted beam mode, which, alongside the beam dump of the P2 experiment, provides an ideal environment for Light Dark Matter (LDM) searches.

To predict the potential signal yield of the separate phases of the DarkMESA experiment in relation to different Dark Matter models, a GEANT4 simulation is used. The simulation incorporates different production channels for Dark Matter through Dark Photons, ALPs, pseudoscalar or scalar mediators and offers both invisible (e.g. DM decays) or visible (e.g. SM decays) decay options. Here, the current status of the simulations is discussed.

Keywords: DarkMESA; GEANT4; Simulation; Light Dark Matter; Dark Photon