Distorted mass edges at LHC from supersymmetric leptoquarks

TL;DR

This paper explores how supersymmetric leptoquarks and their partners can distort mass edge signals at the LHC, offering new detection opportunities but also potential interpretative challenges.

Contribution

It identifies distinctive distortions in mass edges caused by SUSY leptoquarks and leptoquarkinos, highlighting their impact on LHC data analysis.

Findings

Mass edges from SUSY leptoquarks differ significantly from standard squark edges.

Distorted edges can serve as signatures for SUSY leptoquarks at the LHC.

Misinterpretation of these edges could hinder discovery efforts.

Abstract

Supersymmetric (SUSY) grand unified theories based on exceptional gauge groups such as E6 have recently triggered a lot of interest. Aside from top-down motivations, they contain phenomenologically interesting states with leptoquark quantum numbers. Their SUSY partners, leptoquarkinos, will appear similar to all R-odd particles in decay cascades, but mass edges in kinematic distributions- originating from the same semiexclusive final states-will however have major differences to the corresponding edges of ordinary squarks. This distortion of standard observables bears the opportunity to detect them at the LHC, but may also pose significant confusion of underlying model assumptions, which should be handled with care and, if interpreted falsely, might even prevent a possible discovery.