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Production of axionlike particles in $PbPb$ collisions at the LHC, HE -- LHC and FCC: A phenomenological analysis

The production of axionlike particles (ALP) in ultraperipheral $PbPb$ collisions (UPHIC) is investigated considering the energies of the next run of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and of the future High Energy -- LHC (HE -- LHC) and Future Circular Collider (FCC). Assuming four different combinations for the ALP mass and coupling and the typical exclusivity cuts for central and forward detectors, we estimate the cross section and invariant mass, rapidity, transverse momentum and {acoplanarity} distributions associated to the diphoton final state produced in the $γγ\rightarrow a \rightarrow γγ$ subprocesses. A detailed analysis of the backgrounds is performed. We demonstrate that the backgrounds can be strongly reduced by the exclusivity cuts and that a forward detector, as the LHCb, is ideal to probe an ALP with small mass. Finally, our results indicate that a future experimental analysis of the diphoton final state in UPHIC can probe the existence and properties of axionlike particles.