| Abstract: | The electron-ion collider (EIC), to be built at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, is designed to study QCD physics. Beyond its QCD program, several distinctive features, such as the excellent electron beam kinematic reconstruction, capability to veto incoherent scattering, and polarized electron and proton beams make it a uniquely powerful facility for searches beyond the Standard Model (BSM). In this talk, I will present two representative BSM scenarios that can be constrained at the EIC: dark sector models and SMEFT operators involving electrons and top quarks. If time permits, I will also touch on the possibility to constrain neutron densities in nuclei, which are essential input for dark matter direct detection and coherent neutrino scattering experiments. |