Search for resonant production of lepton-enriched semivisible jets in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

Abstract

This search targets the resonant production of lepton-enriched semivisible jets (SVJs) from a strongly coupled dark sector, using 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. Two scenarios are investigated: jets enriched in all lepton flavors (SVJ$\ell$ signature) and jets predominantly enriched in tau leptons (SVJ$\tau$ signature). The analysis focuses on final states in which the missing transverse momentum is aligned with jets containing nonisolated leptons. A dual machine-learning strategy is employed, using a graph neural network for jet identification and a fully connected neural network that combines jet- and event-level information to enhance signal sensitivity and background estimation. The signal models assume a heavy Z' mediator with a benchmark coupling of 0.25 to standard model quarks, together with prompt decays of unstable dark hadrons. In the SVJ$\ell$ scenario, mediator masses up to 4.7 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level, while masses between 1.8 and 3.5 TeV are excluded in the SVJ$\tau$ scenario. These results provide the first experimental constraints on lepton-enriched semivisible jets.