Can flavor-changing Z decay provide a test for supersymmetry?

Abstract

We present a detailed calculation of the contributions from supersymmetric diagrams (involving gluino exchange) to flavor-changing decay modes of the Z boson. We find that for all processes such as Z→tc⁻ and Z→tu̅, the supersymmetric contribution to the branching ratios is small compared to that from the standard model. Any experimental detection of such modes beyond the standard-model prediction will therefore point to the existence of new physics other than supersymmetry.