MoEDAL Collaboration(Acharya, B. et al), Bernabeu, J., Garcia, C., Mamuzic, J., Mitsou, V. A., Ruiz de Austri, R., et al. (2017). Search for Magnetic Monopoles with the MoEDAL Forward Trapping Detector in 13 TeV Proton-Proton Collisions at the LHC. Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(6), 061801–6pp.
Abstract: MoEDAL is designed to identify new physics in the form of long-lived highly ionizing particles produced in high-energy LHC collisions. Its arrays of plastic nuclear-track detectors and aluminium trapping volumes provide two independent passive detection techniques. We present here the results of a first search for magnetic monopole production in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions using the trapping technique, extending a previous publication with 8 TeV data during LHC Run 1. A total of 222 kg of MoEDAL trapping detector samples was exposed in the forward region and analyzed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges exceeding half the Dirac charge are excluded in all samples and limits are placed for the first time on the production of magnetic monopoles in 13 TeV pp collisions. The search probes mass ranges previously inaccessible to collider experiments for up to five times the Dirac charge.
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Domingo, F., Kim, J. S., Martin Lozano, V., Martin-Ramiro, P., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2020). Confronting the neutralino and chargino sector of the NMSSM with the multilepton searches at the LHC. Phys. Rev. D, 101(7), 075010–29pp.
Abstract: We test the impact of the ATLAS and CMS multilepton searches performed at the LHC with 8 as well as 13 TeV center-of-mass energy (using only the pre-2018 results) on the chargino and neutralino sector of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). Our purpose consists in analyzing the actual reach of these searches for a full model and in emphasizing effects beyond the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) that affect the performance of current (MSSM-inspired) electroweakino searches. To this end, we consider several scenarios characterizing specific features of the NMSSM electroweakino sector. We then perform a detailed collider study, generating Monte Carlo events through PYTHIA and testing against current LHC constraints implemented in the public tool CheckMATE. We find e.g., that supersymmetric decay chains involving intermediate singlino or Higgs-singlet states can modify the naive MSSM-like picture of the constraints by inducing final states with softer or less easily identifiable SM particles-reversely, a compressed configuration with singlino next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle occasionally induces final states that are rich with photons, which could provide complementary search channels.
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Lara, I., Lopez-Fogliani, D. E., Muñoz, C., Nagata, N., Otono, H., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2018). Looking for the left sneutrino LSP with displaced-vertex searches. Phys. Rev. D, 98(7), 075004–17pp.
Abstract: We analyze a displaced dilepton signal expected at the LHC for a tau left sneutrino as the lightest supersymmetric particle with a mass in the range 45-100 GeV. The sneutrinos are pair produced via a virtual W, Z or gamma in the s channel and, given the large value of the tau Yukawa coupling, their decays into two dileptons or a dilepton plus missing transverse energy from neutrinos can be significant. The discussion is carried out in the framework of the μnu SSM, where the presence of R-parity violating couplings involving right-handed neutrinos solves the μproblem and can reproduce the neutrino data. To probe the tau left sneutrinos we compare the predictions of this scenario with the ATLAS search for long-lived particles using displaced lepton pairs in pp collisions at root s = 8 TeV, allowing us to constrain the parameter space of the model. We also consider an optimization of the trigger requirements used in existing displaced-vertex searches by means of a high level trigger that exploits tracker information. This optimization is generically useful for a light metastable particle decaying into soft charged leptons. The constraints on the sneutrino turn out to be more stringent. We finally discuss the prospects for the 13 TeV LHC searches as well as further potential optimizations.
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van Beekveld, M., Beenakker, W., Caron, S., Peeters, R., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2017). Supersymmetry with dark matter is still natural. Phys. Rev. D, 96(3), 035015–7pp.
Abstract: We identify the parameter regions of the phenomenological minimal supersymmetric standard model (pMSSM) with the minimal possible fine-tuning. We show that the fine-tuning of the pMSSM is not large, nor under pressure by LHC searches. Low sbottom, stop and gluino masses turn out to be less relevant for low fine-tuning than commonly assumed. We show a link between low fine-tuning and the dark matter relic density. Fine-tuning arguments point to models with a dark matter candidate yielding the correct dark matter relic density: a bino-higgsino particle with a mass of 35-155 GeV. Some of these candidates are compatible with recent hints seen in astrophysics experiments such as Fermi-LAT and AMS-02. We argue that upcoming direct search experiments, such as XENON1T, will test all of the most natural solutions in the next few years due to the sensitivity of these experiments on the spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross section.
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Kim, J. S., Rolbiecki, K., Ruiz de Austri, R., Tattersall, J., & Weber, T. (2016). Prospects for natural SUSY. Phys. Rev. D, 94(9), 095013–19pp.
Abstract: As we anticipate the first results of the 2016 run, we assess the discovery potential of the LHC to “natural supersymmetry.” To begin with, we explore the region of the model parameter space that can be excluded with various center-of-mass energies (13 TeV and 14 TeV) and different luminosities (20 fb(-1), 100 fb(-1), 300 fb(-1) and 3000 fb(-1)). We find that the bounds at 95% C.L. on stops vary from m((t1) over tilde) greater than or similar to 800 GeV expected this summer to m((t1) over tilde) greater than or similar to 1500 GeV at the end of the high luminosity run, while gluino bounds are expected to range from m((g) over tilde) greater than or similar to 1700 GeV to m((g) over tilde) greater than or similar to 2500 GeV over the same time period. However, more pessimistically, we find that if no signal begins to appear this summer, only a very small region of parameter space can be discovered with 5 sigma significance. For this conclusion to change, we find that both theoretical and systematic uncertainties will need to be significantly reduced.
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