This paper describes a search for dark photons ($\gamma_d$) in Higgs boson decay ($H \to \gamma\gamma_d$) produced in proton-proton collisions through the $ZH$ production mode at the Large Hadron Collider at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. The transverse mass of the photon and the missing transverse momentum from the non-interacting $\gamma_d$ would present a distinctive signature at the Higgs boson mass resonance. The results presented use the total Run-2 integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC . The dominant reducible background processes have been estimated using data-driven techniques. A Boosted Decision Tree (BDT) technique was adopted to enhance the sensitivity of the search. Given that no excess is observed with respect to the Standard Model predictions, an observed (expected) upper limit on the branching ratio BR$(H\to \gamma\gamma_d)$ of 2.28$\%$ (2.82$^{+1.33}_{-0.84}\%$) is set at 95$\%$ CL for massless $\gamma_d$. For higher dark photons masses up to 40 GeV, the observed (expected) upper limits at 95$\%$ CL are found to be within the [2.19-2.52]$\%$ ([2.71-3.11]$\%$) range.
Distribution of the BDT classifier response for data and for the expected SM background before the background-only fit. The expectations for the signal are also shown for the massless dark photon and for dark photon mass values of 20 GeV and 40 GeV, assuming BR(H$\to\gamma\gamma_d$) = 5%. Uncertainties shown are statistical for data, while for backgrounds include statistical and systematic sources.
Distribution of the BDT classifier response for data and for the expected SM background after the background-only fit. The expectations for the signal are also shown for the massless dark photon and for dark photon mass values of 20 GeV and 40 GeV, assuming BR(H$\to\gamma\gamma_d$) = 5%. Uncertainties shown are statistical for data, while for backgrounds include statistical and systematic sources determined by the multiple-bin fit.
Background, data and signal yields in bins of BDT, in SR and VV$\gamma$ CR, after the background-only fit. The expectations for the signal are shown for the massless dark photon and for dark photon mass values of 20 GeV and 40 GeV, assuming BR(H$\to\gamma\gamma_d$) = 5%. Uncertainties are statistical for data, while for backgrounds include statistical and systematic sources.
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