A search is performed for heavy metastable particles that decay into jet pairs with a macroscopic lifetime (ct-1 cm) in pp̅ collisions at √s=1.96 TeV using data from the CDF II detector at Fermilab corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb-1. To estimate the standard model background, a data-driven approach is used. Probability-density functions are constructed to model secondary vertices from known processes. No statistically significant excess is observed above the background. Limits on the production cross section in a hidden valley benchmark phenomenology are set for various Higgs boson masses as well as metastable particle masses and lifetimes.

Department of Energy (US); National Science Foundation (US); Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (Italia); Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan); National Research Council of Canada; Swiss National Science Foundation; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Deutschland); National Research Foundation of Korea; Science and Technology Facilities Council (UK); The Royal Society (UK); Russian Foundation for Basic Research; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Slovak Research and Development Agency; Academy of Finland

16 páginas, 12 figuras, 9 tablas.-- CDF Collaboration: et al.

Peer reviewed