Study of LHC Searches for a Lepton and Many Jets

TL;DR

This paper explores LHC searches for events with a lepton and many jets, demonstrating their potential to detect new physics models that are missed by traditional missing energy methods.

Contribution

It introduces a search strategy focusing on lepton plus many jets, highlighting its sensitivity to various supersymmetric and exotic models, and simplifies background modeling.

Findings

Lepton plus many jets searches can detect models missed by missing energy analyses.

Background is primarily from t-tbar, simplifying the analysis.

Potential to discover new physics in non-standard channels.

Abstract

Searches for new physics in high-multiplicity events with little or no missing energy are an important component of the LHC program, complementary to analyses that rely on missing energy. We consider the potential reach of searches for events with a lepton and six or more jets, and show they can provide increased sensitivity to many supersymmetric and exotic models that would not be detected through standard missing-energy analyses. Among these are supersymmetric models with gauge mediation, R-parity violation, and light hidden sectors. Moreover, ATLAS and CMS measurements suggest the primary background in this channel is from t-tbar, rather than W+jets or QCD, which reduces the complexity of background modeling necessary for such a search. We also comment on related searches where the lepton is replaced with another visible object, such as a Z boson.