Non-Degenerate Squarks from Flavored Gauge Mediation

TL;DR

This paper explores flavored gauge mediation models where generation-dependent couplings lead to distinctive squark spectra, allowing lighter second-generation squarks and significant implications for LHC searches and Higgs mass contributions.

Contribution

It introduces a model where flavor symmetry controls messenger-matter couplings, resulting in aligned, non-degenerate squark masses and large stop mixings.

Findings

Second-generation squarks can be significantly lighter than first-generation.

Models produce large stop mixing, enhancing Higgs mass contributions.

Light charm/strange squarks evade current LHC bounds.

Abstract

We study the squark spectra of Flavored Gauge Mediation Models, in which messenger-matter superpotential couplings generate new, generation-dependent contributions to the squark masses. The new couplings are controlled by the same flavor symmetry that explains the fermion masses, leading to excellent alignment of the quark and squark mass matrices. This allows for large squark mass splittings consistent with all flavor bounds. In particular, second-generation squarks are often significantly lighter than the first-generation squarks. As squark production at the LHC is dominated by the up- and down-squarks and the efficiencies for squark searches increase with their masses, the charm and/or strange squark masses can be well below the current LHC bounds. At the same time, even with a single set of messengers, the models can generate large stop mixings which result in large loop contributions to the Higgs mass.