Chargino and Neutralino Decays Revisited

We perform a comprehensive analysis of the decays of charginos and neutralinos in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model where the neutralino $\chi_1^0$ is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle. We focus, in particular, on the three-body decays of the next-to-lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino into the lightest neutralino and fermion-antifermion pairs and include vector boson, Higgs boson and sfermion exchange diagrams, where in the latter contribution the full mixing in the third generation is included. The radiative corrections to the heavy fermion and SUSY particle masses will be also taken into account. We present complete analytical formulae for the Dalitz densities and the integrated partial decay widths in the massless fermion case, as well as the expressions of the differential decay widths including the masses of the final fermions and the polarization of the decaying charginos and neutralinos. We then discuss these decay modes, in particular in scenarios where the parameter $\tan \beta$ is large and in models without universal gaugino masses at the Grand Unification scale where some new decay channels, such as decays into gluinos and $q\bar{q}$ pairs, open up.Comment: 51 pages with 13 figures, latex; uses axodraw.sty and epsfig.st

SDECAY: a Fortran code for the decays of the supersymmetric particles in the MSSM

We present the Fortran code SDECAY, which calculates the decay widths and branching ratios of all the supersymmetric particles in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, including higher order effects. Besides the usual two-body decays of fermions and gauginos and the three-body decays of charginos, neutralinos and gluinos, we have also implemented the three-body decays of top squarks, and even the four-body decays of the top squark; the important loop-induced decay modes are also included. The QCD corrections to the two-body decays involving strongly interacting particles and the dominant components of the electroweak corrections to all decay modes are implemented.Comment: 42 page

Determining SUSY Parameters in Chargino Pair-Production in e+e−e^+e^- Collisions

In most supersymmetric theories, charginos $\tilde{\chi}^\pm_{1,2}$, mixtures of charged color-neutral gauginos and higgsinos, belong to the class of the lightest supersymmetric particles. They are easy to observe at $e^+e^-$ colliders. By measuring the total cross sections and the left-right asymmetries with polarized electron beams in $e^+e^-\to\tilde{\chi}_i^-\tilde{\chi}_j^+ [i,j=1,2]$, the chargino masses and the gaugino-higgsino mixing angles can be determined. From these observables the fundamental SUSY parameters can be derived: the SU(2) gaugino mass $M_2$, the modulus $|\mu|$ and $\cos \Phi_\mu$ of the higgsino mass parameter, and $\tan\beta = v_2/v_1$, the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the two neutral Higgs doublet fields. The solutions are unique; the CP-violating phase $\Phi_\mu$ can be determined uniquely by analyzing effects due to the normal polarization of the charginos.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, uses axodraw.st

Three-Body Decays of SUSY Particles

We analyze the decays of charginos, neutralinos, gluinos and the first/second generation squarks in the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, focusing on the three-body decays in scenarios where the ratio $\tan \beta$ of vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs doublet fields is large. We show that the three-body decays of the next-to-lightest neutralinos (lightest charginos) into $b\bar{b},\tau^+\tau^-$ ($\tau \nu$) final states, where third generation sfermion and Higgs boson exchange diagrams play an important role, are dominant. Furthermore, we show that decays of gluinos into $b\bar{b}$ final states and squark decays into lighter sbottoms through gluino exchange can also have sizeable branching fractions, especially in scenarios where the soft SUSY breaking gaugino mass parameters are not unified at the GUT scale.Comment: 10 pages with 5 figures + axodraw.sty, late

Decays of the Lightest Top Squark

We analyze higher order decay modes of the lightest top squark $\tilde{t}_1$ in the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM), where the lightest SUSY particle (LSP) is assumed to be the neutralino $\chi_1^0$. For small $\tilde{t}_1$ masses accessible at LEP2 and the Tevatron, we show that the four--body decay mode into the LSP, a bottom quark and two massless fermions, \tilde{t}_1 \ra b \chi_1^0 f\bar{f}', can dominate in a wide range of the MSSM parameter space over the loop--induced decay into a charm quark and the LSP, \tilde{t}_1 \ra c \chi_1^0. This result might affect the experimental searches on this particle, since only the later signal has been considered so far

The Higgs sector of the phenomenological MSSM in the light of the Higgs boson discovery

The long awaited discovery of a new light scalar at the LHC opens up a new era of studies of the Higgs sector in the SM and its extensions. In this paper we discuss the consequences of the observation of a light Higgs boson with the mass and rates reported by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations on the parameter space of the phenomenological MSSM, including also the so far unsuccessful LHC searches for the heavier Higgs bosons and supersymmetric particle partners in missing transverse momentum as well as the constraints from B physics and dark matter. We explore the various regimes of the MSSM Higgs sector depending on the parameters MA and tan beta and show that only two of them are still allowed by all present experimental constraints: the decoupling regime where there is only one light and standard--like Higgs boson and the supersymmetric regime in which there are light supersymmetric particle partners affecting the decay properties of the Higgs boson, in particular its di-photon and invisible decays.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures v2 - Discussion of the impact of LHC data extended, scan statistics increased, a few figures added and typos correcte

Three-Body Decays of Top and Bottom Squarks

We investigate the decays of third generation scalar quarks in the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, focusing on the three-body modes. We calculate the partial widths of the decays of heavier top and bottom squarks into the lighter ones and a fermion pair [through virtual vector boson, Higgs boson or gaugino exchanges] and the partial widths of the three-body decays of both top squarks into bottom quarks and a pair of fermion and scalar fermion [we consider the case of lighter $\tilde{\tau}$ or $\tilde{b}$ states] and into a bottom quark, the lightest neutralino and a $W$ or a charged Higgs boson $H^\pm$. Some of these decay modes are shown to have substantial branching ratios in some areas of the parameter space.Comment: 24 pages with 4 psfigures, late

Reconstructing the Chargino System at e+e−e^+e^- Linear Colliders

In most supersymmetric theories charginos, $\tilde{\chi}^\pm_{1,2}$, belong to the class of the lightest supersymmetric particles. The chargino system can be reconstructed completely in $e^+e^-$ collider experiments: $e^+e^-\to\tilde{\chi}_i^+ \tilde{\chi}_j^- [i,j=1,2]$. By measuring the total cross sections and the asymmetries with polarized beams, the chargino masses and the gaugino-higgsino mixing angles of these states can be determined accurately. If only the lightest charginos $\tilde{\chi}_1^\pm$ are kinematically accessible in a first phase of the machine, transverse beam polarization or the measurement of chargino polarization in the final state is needed to determine the mixing angles. From these observables the fundamental SUSY parameters can be derived: the SU(2) gaugino mass $M_2$, the modulus and the cosine of the CP-violating phase of the higgsino mass parameter $\mu$, and $\tan\beta = v_2/v_1$, the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the two neutral Higgs doublet fields. The remaining two-fold ambiguity of the phase can be resolved by measuring the normal polarization of the charginos. Sum rules of the cross sections can be exploited to investigate the closure of the two-chargino system.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Higgs Physics at Future Colliders: recent theoretical developments

I review the physics of the Higgs sector in the Standard Model and its minimal supersymmetric extension, the MSSM. I will discuss the prospects for discovering the Higgs particles at the upgraded Tevatron, at the Large Hadron Collider, and at a future high--energy $e^+e^-$ linear collider with centre--of--mass energy in the 350--800 GeV range, as well as the possibilities for studying their fundamental properties. Some emphasis will be put on the theoretical developments which occurred in the last two years.Comment: 20 pages, latex, 12 figures. Talk given at PASCOS 2003 (Bombay, India