Search for supersymmetry with a photon, a lepton, and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for supersymmetry in proton-proton collisions at 8 TeV, focusing on events with a photon, a lepton, and missing transverse momentum, setting new mass exclusion limits.

Contribution

It presents the first search of its kind using CMS data at 8 TeV, interpreting results within gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking models and setting new exclusion limits.

Findings

No excess events observed beyond standard model predictions.

Charged and neutral winos with masses up to 360 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.

Upper limits on production cross sections of supersymmetric processes are established.

Abstract

A search for supersymmetry involving events with at least one photon, one electron or muon, and large missing transverse momentum has been performed by the CMS experiment. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns of pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, produced at the CERN LHC. No excess of events is observed beyond expectations from standard model processes. The result of the search is interpreted in the context of a general model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, where the charged and neutral winos are the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particles. Within this model, winos with a mass up to 360 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level. Two simplified models inspired by gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking are also examined, and used to derive upper limits on the production cross sections of specific supersymmetric processes.