Analysing parameter space correlations of recent 13 TeV gluino and squark searches in the pMSSM

TL;DR

This study explores correlations in the pMSSM parameter space using recent 13 TeV ATLAS gluino and squark searches, revealing complementary sensitivities and insights into the dark sector beyond direct detection capabilities.

Contribution

It interprets multiple ATLAS analyses within the 19-parameter pMSSM, uncovering new correlations and sensitivities, especially in the dark sector and leptonic search channels.

Findings

Distinct search regions are independent of prior assumptions.

Strong complementarity between 2-6 jets and Multi-b searches.

Collider searches probe dark sector regions challenging for direct detection.

Abstract

This paper examines unexplored correlations in the parameter spaces probed by recent ATLAS analyses for gluinos and squarks, addressing various shortcomings in the literature. Six 13 TeV ATLAS analyses based on 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity are interpreted in the 19-parameter R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric extension to the Standard Model (pMSSM). The distinct regions covered by each search are independent of prior, and we reveal particularly striking complementarity between the 2-6 jets and Multi-b searches. In the leptonic searches, we identify better sensitivity to models than those used for analysis optimisation, notably a squark-slepton-wino scenario for the SS/3L search. Further, we show how collider searches for coloured states probe the structure of the pMSSM dark sector more extensively than the Monojet analysis alone, with sensitivity to parameter spaces that are challenging for direct detection experiments.