Paper
Kaon decay constraints on vector bosons coupled to non-conserved currents
Authors
Matheus Hostert, Maxim Pospelov, Adrian Thompson
Abstract
We study rare three- and four-body kaon decays as a probe of light vector and axial-vector bosons coupled to non-conserved currents. We find that searches for $K_L \to π^0 π^0 (X\to e^+e^-)$ decays constrain the couplings of light $X$ bosons to light quarks to be as small as $\mathcal{O}(10^{-5})$. The charged-pion modes $K^+ \to π^+ π^0 (X \to e^+e^-)$ and $K_L \to π^+ π^- (X \to e^+e^-)$ provide weaker limits, but constrain complementary combinations of couplings to the $u$, $d$, and $s$ quarks at the level of $\mathcal{O}(10^{-4})$. Finally, we also find that double emission of $X$ in $K \to πXX$ decays can provide yet additional constraints on the parameter space of light $X$ bosons due to a double $(m_K/m_X)^2$ enhancement to the rate. For a 17 MeV boson, these limits add to the known tension between spin-1 bosons coupled to vector and axial-vector currents interpretations of the results of the ATOMKI experiment with meson decay data. Finally, we also comment on negative pion capture on hydrogen and deuterium as a source of light particles and discuss the prospects for testing the 17 MeV boson hypothesis.
Metadata
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Raw Data (Debug)
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"raw_xml": "<entry>\n <id>http://arxiv.org/abs/2602.19479v1</id>\n <title>Kaon decay constraints on vector bosons coupled to non-conserved currents</title>\n <updated>2026-02-23T03:48:16Z</updated>\n <link href='https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.19479v1' rel='alternate' type='text/html'/>\n <link href='https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.19479v1' rel='related' title='pdf' type='application/pdf'/>\n <summary>We study rare three- and four-body kaon decays as a probe of light vector and axial-vector bosons coupled to non-conserved currents. We find that searches for $K_L \\to π^0 π^0 (X\\to e^+e^-)$ decays constrain the couplings of light $X$ bosons to light quarks to be as small as $\\mathcal{O}(10^{-5})$. The charged-pion modes $K^+ \\to π^+ π^0 (X \\to e^+e^-)$ and $K_L \\to π^+ π^- (X \\to e^+e^-)$ provide weaker limits, but constrain complementary combinations of couplings to the $u$, $d$, and $s$ quarks at the level of $\\mathcal{O}(10^{-4})$. Finally, we also find that double emission of $X$ in $K \\to πXX$ decays can provide yet additional constraints on the parameter space of light $X$ bosons due to a double $(m_K/m_X)^2$ enhancement to the rate. For a 17 MeV boson, these limits add to the known tension between spin-1 bosons coupled to vector and axial-vector currents interpretations of the results of the ATOMKI experiment with meson decay data. Finally, we also comment on negative pion capture on hydrogen and deuterium as a source of light particles and discuss the prospects for testing the 17 MeV boson hypothesis.</summary>\n <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='hep-ph'/>\n <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='hep-ex'/>\n <published>2026-02-23T03:48:16Z</published>\n <arxiv:comment>16 pages, 7 figures</arxiv:comment>\n <arxiv:primary_category term='hep-ph'/>\n <author>\n <name>Matheus Hostert</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Maxim Pospelov</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Adrian Thompson</name>\n </author>\n </entry>"
}