Speaker
Mr
Christian Spethmann
(Cornell University)
Description
Null results of experimental searches for the Higgs boson and the superpartners imply
a certain amount of fine-tuning in the electroweak sector of the Minimal
Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The "golden region'' in the MSSM parameter
space is the region where the experimental constraints are satisfied and the amount
of fine-tuning is minimized. In this region, the stop trilinear soft term is large,
leading to a significant mass splitting between the two stop mass eigenstates. As a
result, the decay of the heavier stop into the lighter stop and a Z boson is
kinematically allowed throughout the golden region. We propose that the experiments
at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can search for this decay through an inclusive
signature, Z+2jb+missing Et+X. We evaluate the Standard Model backgrounds for this
channel, and identify a set of cuts that would allow detection of the supersymmetric
contribution at the LHC for the MSSM parameters typical of the golden region. We also
discuss other possible interpretations of a signal for new physics in the
Z+2jb+missing Et+X channel, and suggest further measurements that could be used to
distinguish among these interpretations.
Author
Mr
Christian Spethmann
(Cornell University)
Co-author
Maxim Perelstein
(Cornell University)
