Teoretins

Teoretins are a hypothetical class of light, neutral bosons proposed in speculative extensions of the Standard Model to mediate a hidden interaction and to illustrate how additional gauge sectors could couple to ordinary matter.

Origin and theory: The concept emerged in toy-model explorations of extra gauge symmetries, often represented by an additional U(1)′. Depending on the realization, Teoretins can be scalar or vector bosons. They typically possess a small mass and very weak couplings to standard-model fields, allowing them to evade current detection. Some models permit mixing with the photon, yielding an effectively tiny electric charge.

Properties: In general Teoretins are characterized by a mass m_T and a coupling g_T to standard-model currents. Their interaction range is set by 1/m_T, corresponding to a feeble fifth force at macroscopic scales. They may couple preferentially to baryon or lepton number, or to dark-sector fields, enabling a portal between visible and hidden sectors.

Experimental status: No conclusive evidence for Teoretins has been found. Experimental probes include precision tests of gravity at sub-millimeter scales, atomic spectroscopy and clock experiments, astrophysical constraints from stellar cooling, and collider or fixed-target searches for missing-energy signatures. Parameter space is tightly constrained in certain realizations but remains open in others.

Outlook: Teoretins are used mainly as a theoretical tool to illustrate how hidden sectors could interact with the Standard Model. They highlight the challenges of detecting light, weakly coupled mediators and the need for diverse experimental approaches.