The Footprint of F-theory at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper explores how F-theory GUTs can be distinguished from other supersymmetric models at the LHC by analyzing their unique collider signatures and the effects of stringy deformations on soft scalar masses.

Contribution

It adapts the footprint method to F-theory GUTs and demonstrates the potential to distinguish these models from others using LHC data, highlighting observable effects of stringy deformations.

Findings

F-theory GUTs can be distinguished from mSUGRA and gauge mediation models with 5 fb^(-1) of data.

Stringy effects cause observable shifts in scalar masses up to ~80 GeV at 5 fb^(-1).

Higher luminosity (50 fb^(-1)) improves the precision of mass deformation detection to ~10 GeV.

Abstract

Recent work has shown that compactifications of F-theory provide a potentially attractive phenomenological scenario. The low energy characteristics of F-theory GUTs consist of a deformation away from a minimal gauge mediation scenario with a high messenger scale. The soft scalar masses of the theory are all shifted by a stringy effect which survives to low energies. This effect can range from 0 GeV up to ~ 500 GeV. In this paper we study potential collider signatures of F-theory GUTs, focussing in particular on ways to distinguish this class of models from other theories with an MSSM spectrum. To accomplish this, we have adapted the general footprint method developed recently for distinguishing broad classes of string vacua to the specific case of F-theory GUTs. We show that with only 5 fb^(-1) of simulated LHC data, it is possible to distinguish many mSUGRA models and low messenger scale gauge mediation models from F-theory GUTs. Moreover, we find that at 5 fb^(-1), the stringy deformation away from minimal gauge mediation produces observable consequences which can also be detected to a level of order ~ +/- 80 GeV. In this way, it is possible to distinguish between models with a large and small stringy deformation. At 50 fb^(-1), this improves to ~ +/- 10 GeV.