Searching for axionlike particle at future $ep$ colliders

Abstract

We explore the possibility of searching for axionlike particle (ALP) by $ep$ collisions via the subprocess $e^{-}\gamma \rightarrow e^{-}a \rightarrow e^{-}\gamma\gamma$. Sensitivities to the effective ALP-photon coupling $g_{a\gamma\gamma}$ for its mass in the range of 10 GeV $< M_{a}< 3$ TeV are obtained for the LHeC and its high-energy upgrade, FCC-eh. Comparing to existing bounds on the ALP free parameters, we find that the bounds given by $ep$ colliders are competitive and complementary to other colliders.