Long-lived particle production through the PRISM

Accelerator-based neutrino experiments offer a competitive environment to search for long-lived particles with sub-GeV masses. Yet, many theoretical models involving such particles predict very similar phenomenology and nearly identical final-state signatures. In view of this, we study the capabilities of upcoming experiments – specifically the DUNE near detectors – to distinguish between different classes of long-lived particles and the mechanisms by which they are produces. We expound how the experiment’s excellent energy resolution, combined with the possibility to move the detector off-axis (the DUNE-PRISM concept), work in tandem to improve the discrimination power.