Odd Tracks at Hadron Colliders

TL;DR

This paper highlights the potential for missing irregular tracks from light, colored particles decaying inside the tracker at hadron colliders, emphasizing the need for dedicated searches to uncover new physics.

Contribution

It demonstrates that certain light, colored particles can produce irregular tracks that are often overlooked, explaining previous anomalies and urging comprehensive search strategies at the LHC.

Findings

Irregular tracks can originate from light, colored particles decaying inside the tracker.

Such particles can be produced at high rates but remain undetected without specific searches.

Irregular tracks may explain the CDF anomalous charged track measurement.

Abstract

New physics that exhibits irregular tracks such as kinks, intermittent hits or decay in flight may easily be missed at hadron colliders. We demonstrate this by studying viable models of light, O(10 GeV), colored particles that decay predominantly inside the tracker. Such particles can be produced at staggering rates, and yet may not be identified or even triggered on at the LHC, unless specifically searched for. In addition, the models we study provide an explanation for the original measurement of the anomalous charged track distribution by CDF. The presence of irregular tracks in these models reconcile that measurement with the subsequent reanalysis and the null results of ATLAS and CMS. Our study clearly illustrates the need for a comprehensive study of irregular tracks at the LHC.