Search for a μ + μ − resonance in four-muon final states at Belle II
We report on a search for a resonance X decaying to a pair of muons in e + e − → μ + μ − X events in the 0.212 – 9.000 GeV / c 2 mass range, using 178 fb − 1 of data collected by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB collider at a center of mass energy of 10.58 GeV. The analysis probes two different models of X beyond the standard model: a Z ′ vector boson in the L μ − L τ model and a muonphilic scalar. We observe no evidence for a signal and set exclusion limits at the 90% confidence level on the products of cross section and branching fraction for these processes, ranging from 0.046 fb to 0.97 fb for the L μ − L τ model and from 0.055 fb to 1.3 fb for the muonphilic scalar model. For masses below 6 GeV / c 2 , the corresponding constraints on the couplings of these processes to the standard model range from 0.0008 to 0.039 for the L μ − L τ model and from 0.0018 to 0.040 for the muonphilic scalar model. These are the first constraints on the muonphilic scalar from a dedicated search. Published by the American Physical Society 2024