Addressing the Multi-Channel Inverse Problem at High Energy Colliders: A Model Independent Approach to the Search for New Physics with Trileptons

We describe a method for interpreting trilepton searches at high energy colliders in a model-independent fashion and apply it to the recent searches at the Tevatron. The key step is to recognize that the trilepton signature is comprised of four experimentally very different channels defined by the number of tau-leptons in the trilepton state. Contributions from these multiple channels to the overall experimental sensitivity (cross section times branching ratio) are model-independent and can be parametrized in terms of relevant new particle masses. Given the trileptonic branching ratios of a specific model, these experimentally obtained multichannel sensitivities can be combined to obtain a cross section measurement that can be used to confront the model with data. Our model-independent results are more widely applicable than the current Tevatron trilepton results which are stated exclusively in terms of mSUGRA parameters of supersymmetry. The technique presented here can be expanded beyond trilepton searches to the more general "inverse problem" of experimentally discriminating between competing models that seek to explain new physics discovered in multiple channels.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures Changed content cosmetic changes for submission to JHE

1948 Dube\u27s Flower Shop Note

Typed note from Leo P. Dube of Dube\u27s Flower Shop in Lewiston, Maine, to Louis-Philippe Gagné.https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/fac-lpg-letters-1948-01-06/1064/thumbnail.jp

Topological augmentation: A step forward for qualitative partition reasoning

The current state of the art for partition based qualitative spatial reasoning systems such as the 9-intersection, 9+-intersection, direction relation matrix, and peripheral direction relations is that of the binary set intersection — either empty or non-empty — conveying the intersection (or lack thereof) of an object in the sets deriving the partition. While such representations are sufficient for topological components of objects, these representations are not sufficient for various tasks in qualitative spatial reasoning (composition, representation transfer, converse, etc.) regarding partitions as tiles. Topological augmentation expands the current binary status quo into a system of assigning topological relations between objects and tiles. A case study is presented in the form of the direction relation matrix, demonstrating that an increased vocabulary has benefits for spatial information systems, providing localized context within a qualitative embedding