An update on the next-to-leading order Monte Carlo MCFM

The current status of the parton level, next-to-leading order Monte Carlo program MCFM is described

Metastable Charged Sparticles and the Cosmological Li7 Problem

We consider the effects of metastable charged sparticles on Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), including bound-state reaction rates and chemical effects. We make a new analysis of the bound states of negatively-charged massive particles with the light nuclei most prominent in BBN, and present a new code to track their abundances, paying particular attention to that of Li7. Assuming, as an example, that the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), and that the lighter stau slepton, stau_1, is the metastable next-to-lightest sparticle within the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM), we analyze the possible effects on the standard BBN abundances of stau_1 bound states and decays for representative values of the gravitino mass. Taking into account the constraint on the CMSSM parameter space imposed by the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC, we delineate regions in which the fit to the measured light-element abundances is as good as in standard BBN. We also identify regions of the CMSSM parameter space in which the bound state properties, chemistry and decays of metastable charged sparticles can solve the cosmological Li7 problem.Comment: 49 pages, 29 eps figure

Nuclear Reaction Uncertainties, Massive Gravitino Decays and the Cosmological Lithium Problem

We consider the effects of uncertainties in nuclear reaction rates on the cosmological constraints on the decays of unstable particles during or after Big-Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). We identify the nuclear reactions due to non-thermal hadrons that are the most important in perturbing standard BBN, then quantify the uncertainties in these reactions and in the resulting light-element abundances. These results also indicate the key nuclear processes for which improved cross section data would allow different light-element abundances to be determined more accurately, thereby making possible more precise probes of BBN and evaluations of the cosmological constraints on unstable particles. Applying this analysis to models with unstable gravitinos decaying into neutralinos, we calculate the likelihood function for the light-element abundances measured currently, taking into account the current experimental errors in the determinations of the relevant nuclear reaction rates. We find a region of the gravitino mass and abundance in which the abundances of deuterium, He4 and Li7 may be fit with chi^2 = 5.5, compared with chi^2 = 31.7 if the effects of gravitino decays are unimportant. The best-fit solution is improved to chi^2 ~ 2.0 when the lithium abundance is taken from globular cluster data. Some such re-evaluation of the observed light-element abundances and/or nuclear reaction rates would be needed if this region of gravitino parameters is to provide a complete solution to the cosmological Li7 problem.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figure

Gravitino Decays and the Cosmological Lithium Problem in Light of the LHC Higgs and Supersymmetry Searches

We studied previously the impact on light-element abundances of gravitinos decaying during or after Big-Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). We found regions of the gravitino mass m_{3/2} and abundance zeta_{3/2} plane where its decays could reconcile the calculated abundance of Li7 with observation without perturbing the other light-element abundances unacceptably. Here we revisit this issue in light of LHC measurements of the Higgs mass and constraints on supersymmetric model parameters, as well as updates in the astrophysical measurements of light-element abundances. In addition to the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model with universal soft supersymmetry-breaking masses at the GUT scale (the CMSSM) studied previously, we also study models with universality imposed below the GUT scale and models with non-universal Higgs masses (NUHM1). We calculate the total likelihood function for the light-element abundances, taking into account the observational uncertainties. We find that gravitino decays provide a robust solution to the cosmological Li7 problem along strips in the (m_{3/2}, zeta_{3/2}) plane along which the abundances of deuterium, He4 and Li7 may be fit with chi^2_min < 3, compared with chi^2 ~ 34 if the effects of gravitino decays are unimportant. The minimum of the likelihood function is reduced to chi^2 < 2 when the uncertainty on D/H is relaxed and < 1 when the lithium abundance is taken from globular cluster data.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures; added a new table and a discussion paragraph for it in Section 4, matches the published versio

Supersymmetric Dark Matter in Light of WMAP

We re-examine the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM), taking account of the restricted range of \Omega_{CDM} h^2 consistent with the WMAP data. This provides a significantly reduced upper limit on the mass of the lightest supersymmetric particle LSP: m_\chi 0, or \tan \beta < 30 and \mu < 0, thereby improving the prospects for measuring supersymmetry at the LHC, and increasing the likelihood that a 1-TeV linear e^+ e^- collider would be able to measure the properties of some supersymmetric particles