Ideas for extending the Frascati LINAC positron beam pulses for the resonant search of a X(17 MeV) boson

The results on the so-called $^8$Be anomaly, recently corroborated by similar experimental evidence in the radiative transitions of excited $^4$He nuclei, could be justified by the creation of a new particle with a mass of $m_X\simeq16.7$ MeV/$c^2$. The PADME experiment, designed for searching light dark sector particles, like a dark photon or an axion-like particle, both in $\gamma +$ missing energy and $e^+ e^-$ final states, has the potential of performing a completely independent search, also exploiting the cross-section enhancement at the resonance $\sqrt{s}\simeq m_X$. In the case of the $X$(17 MeV) boson, this corresponds to a positron energy of 282 MeV when annihilating on electrons at rest. In order to keep the pile-up and the over-veto probabilities under control, the positron beam hitting the PADME active target should be as much diluted in time as possible. PADME has already collected a first data-set at the Frascati beam-test facility, using the positron beam accelerated by the DA$\Phi$NE LINAC, with maximum length of $\sim$200 ns and energy 490-550 MeV. In this note, the possible modifications to the RF system of the LINAC, aiming at further extending the pulse length at the expenses of the maximum beam energy, are briefly discussed.

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