Supersymmetric-particle production at pp̅ collider energies

Abstract

The recently observed hadronic single- and multijet events accompanied by large missing p_T can be consistently explained by gluinos (g˜), produced via qq̅,gg→g˜ g˜ with an optimal mass of m_g˜=35 to 45 GeV. This result agrees surprisingly well with theoretical predictions of the minimal N=1 supergravity model. Adopting the theoretically somewhat less appealing alternative where scalar quarks (q˜) are lighter than gluinos such that they are dominantly produced via qq̅,gg→q˜ q˜, the events can also be explained by scalar quarks in a similar mass range. Currently available data, including the observed jet properties, cannot meaningfully distinguish between these two mechanisms. In addition we present detailed predictions for cross sections and distributions in <E_T>, p_T^miss, p_T^jet, and invariant observed jet masses for gluino as well as scalar-quark production at present and forthcoming CERN pp̅ collider energies (√s =540 and 620 GeV). Realistic tests are suggested which would allow discrimination between gluinos and scalar quarks in the near future.