SUSY Parameter Measurements with Fittino

This article presents the results of a realistic global fit of the Lagrangian parameters of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with no assumptions on the SUSY breaking mechanism using the fit program Fittino. The fit is performed using the precision of future mass measurements of superpartners at the LHC and mass and polarized topological cross-section measurements at the ILC. Higher order radiative corrections are accounted for wherever possible to date. Results are obtained for a modified SPS1a MSSM benchmark scenario (general MSSM without assumptions on the breaking mechanism) and for a specific mSUGRA scenario. Exploiting a simulated annealing algorithm, a stable result is obtained without any {\it a priori} assumptions on the fit parameters. Most of the Lagrangian parameters can be extracted at the percent level or better if theoretical uncertainties are neglected. Neither LHC nor ILC measurements alone will be sufficient to obtain a stable result.Comment: 3 pages, presented at the 2005 International Linear Collider Physics And Detector Workshop, Snowmass, CO, 14.-27. August 200

A DAQ System for Linear Collider TPC Prototypes based on the ALEPH TPC Electronics

Within the international studies of a high energy linear electron positron collider, several groups are developing and testing prototypes for a Linear Collider TPC. This detector is planned to be used as a central part in the tracking system of a detector at such a machine. In this note we describe a DAQ system, which has been developed for the use in tests of TPC prototypes. It is based on electronics used at the ALEPH experiment at CERN.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

LHC and the Dark Matter Connection

The presentation describes what we might learn about dark matter from LHC data

The race for supersymmetry: using mT2 for discovery

We describe how one may employ a very simple event selection, using only the kinematic variable mT2, to search for new particles at the LHC. The method is useful when searching for evidence of models (such as R-parity conserving supersymmetry) which have a Z2 parity and a weakly-interacting lightest parity-odd particle. We discuss the kinematic properties which make this variable an excellent discriminant against the great majority of Standard Model backgrounds. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that this approach could be used to discover supersymmetry with somewhat smaller integrated luminosities (or perhaps lower center-of-mass energies) than would be required for other comparable analyses.Comment: 8 page

Stau as the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle in R-Parity Violating SUSY Models: Discovery Potential with Early LHC Data

We investigate the discovery potential of the LHC experiments for R-parity violating supersymmetric models with a stau as the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) in the framework of minimal supergravity. We classify the final states according to their phenomenology for different R-parity violating decays of the LSP. We then develop event selection cuts for a specific benchmark scenario with promising signatures for the first beyond the Standard Model discoveries at the LHC. For the first time in this model, we perform a detailed signal over background analysis. We use fast detector simulations to estimate the discovery significance taking the most important Standard Model backgrounds into account. Assuming an integrated luminosity of 1 inverse femtobarn at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, we perform scans in the parameter space around the benchmark scenario we consider. We then study the feasibility to estimate the mass of the stau-LSP. We briefly discuss difficulties, which arise in the identification of hadronic tau decays due to small tau momenta and large particle multiplicities in our scenarios.Comment: 26 pages, 18 figures, LaTeX; minor changes, final version published in PR

Fittino, a program for determining MSSM parameters from collider observables using an iterative method

Provided that Supersymmetry (SUSY) is realized, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the future International Linear Collider (ILC) may provide a wealth of precise data from SUSY processes. An important task will be to extract the Lagrangian parameters. On this basis the goal is to uncover the underlying symmetry breaking mechanism from the measured observables. In order to determine the SUSY parameters, the program Fittino has been developed. It uses an iterative fitting technique and a Simulated Annealing algorithm to determine the SUSY parameters directly from the observables without any a priori knowledge of the parameters, using all available loop-corrections to masses and couplings. Simulated Annealing is implemented as a stable and efficient method for finding the optimal parameter values. The theoretical predictions can be provided from any program with SUSY Les Houches Accord interface. As fit result, a set of parameters including the full error matrix and two-dimensional uncertainty contours are obtained. Pull distributions can automatically be created and allow an independent cross-check of the fit results and possible systematic shifts in the parameter determination. A determination of the importance of the individual observables for the measurement of each parameter can be performed after the fit. A flexible user interface is implemented, allowing a wide range of different types of observables and a wide range of parameters to be used.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures, accepted by Comp. Phys. Com

Measuring a Light Neutralino Mass at the ILC: Testing the MSSM Neutralino Cold Dark Matter Model

The LEP experiments give a lower bound on the neutralino mass of about 46 GeV which, however, relies on a supersymmetric grand unification relation. Dropping this assumption, the experimental lower bound on the neutralino mass vanishes completely. Recent analyses suggest, however, that in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), a light neutralino dark matter candidate has a lower bound on its mass of about 7 GeV. In light of this, we investigate the mass sensitivity at the ILC for very light neutralinos. We study slepton pair production, followed by the decay of the sleptons to a lepton and the lightest neutralino. We find that the mass measurement accuracy for a few-GeV neutralino is around 2 GeV, or even less if the relevant slepton is sufficiently light. We thus conclude that the ILC can help verify or falsify the MSSM neutralino cold dark matter model even for very light neutralinos.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure; references adde

Charge Transfer and Charge Broadening of GEM Structures in High Magnetic Fields

We report on measurements of charge transfer in GEM structures in high magnetic fields. These were performed in the framework of the R&D work for a Time Projection Chamber at a future Linear Collider. A small test chamber has been installed into the aperture of a superconducting magnet with the GEM structures mounted perpendicular to the B field direction. The charge transfer is derived from the electrical currents monitored during irradiation with an ${}^{55}$Fe source. No severe loss of primary ionisation charge is observed, but an improved ion feedback suppression is achieved for high magnetic fields. Additionally, the width of the charge cloud released by individual ${}^{55}$Fe photons is measured using a finely segmented strip readout after the triple GEM structure. Charge widths between 0.3 and 0.5 mm RMS are observed, which originate from the charge broadening inside the GEM readout. This charge broadening is only partly suppressed at high magnetic fields.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Determination of MSSM Parameters from LHC and ILC Observables in a Global Fit

We present the results of a realistic global fit of the Lagrangian parameters of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model assuming universality for the first and second generation and real parameters. No assumptions on the SUSY breaking mechanism are made. The fit is performed using the precision of future mass measurements of superpartners at the LHC and mass and polarized topological cross-section measurements at the ILC. Higher order radiative corrections are accounted for whereever possible to date. Results are obtained for a modified SPS1a MSSM benchmark scenario but they were checked not to depend critically on this assumption. Exploiting a simulated annealing algorithm, a stable result is obtained without any a priori assumptions on the values of the fit parameters. Most of the Lagrangian parameters can be extracted at the percent level or better if theoretical uncertainties are neglected. Neither LHC nor ILC measurements alone will be sufficient to obtain a stable result. The effects of theoretical uncertainties arising from unknown higher-order corrections and parametric uncertainties are examined qualitatively. They appear to be relevant and the result motivates further precision calculations. The obtained parameters at the electroweak scale are used for a fit of the parameters at high energy scales within the bottom-up approach. In this way regularities at these scales are explored and the underlying model can be determined with hardly any theoretical bias. Fits of high-scale parameters to combined LHC+ILC measurements within the mSUGRA framework reveal that even tiny distortions in the low-energy mass spectrum already lead to inacceptable chi^2 values. This does not hold for ``LHC only'' inputs.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure