Searching for New Physics with DarkLight at the ARIEL Electron-Linac

Abstract

The search for a dark photon holds considerable interest in the physics community. Such a force carrier would begin to illuminate the dark sector. Many experiments have searched for such a particle, but so far it has proven elusive. In recent years the concept of a low mass dark photon has gained popularity in the physics community. Of particular recent interest is the $^8$Be and $^4$He anomaly, which could be explained by a new fifth force carrier with a mass of 17 MeV/$c^2$. The proposed DarkLight experiment would search for this potential low mass force carrier at ARIEL in the 10-20 MeV e$^+$e$^-$ invariant mass range. This proceeding will focus on the experimental design and physics case of the DarkLight experiment.