Vector Boson Fusion Processes as a Probe of Supersymmetric Electroweak Sectors at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of vector boson fusion processes at the LHC to detect supersymmetric particles, focusing on chargino and neutralino production without trigger bias, using specific kinematic criteria.

Contribution

It presents a feasibility study demonstrating how VBF processes can be employed to probe non-colored supersymmetric sectors at the LHC, with strategies to distinguish signals from background.

Findings

VBF processes can effectively probe chargino/neutralino production at the LHC.

Kinematic criteria enable signal detection above Standard Model backgrounds.

Analysis covers both tau and light lepton final states at 8 TeV.

Abstract

Vector boson fusion (VBF) processes offer a promising avenue to study the non-colored sectors of supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model at the LHC. A feasibility study for searching for the chargino/neutralino system in the $R-$parity conserving Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is presented. The high $E_T$ forward jets in opposite hemispheres are utilized to trigger VBF events, so that the production of the lightest chargino and the second lightest neutralino can be probed without a bias by experimental triggers. Kinematic requirements are developed to search for signals of these supersymmetric states above Standard Model backgrounds in both $\tau$ and light lepton ($e$ and $\mu$) final states at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV.