Estimating the production of dark photons with η decay in high-energy collisions

We propose searching for dark photon signals in the decay channel of η mesons, specifically through the leptonic decay ( ) observable in photon-photon interactions during ultra-peripheral heavy-ion collisions. We estimate the total cross-section for dark photon production in ultra-peripheral PbPb collisions at current and future hadron colliders. Our findings support the potential for detecting dark photon signals at the LHC, High-Luminosity LHC, High-Energy LHC, and Future Circular Collider.