Searches for physics beyond the standard model with the $M_\mathrm{T2}$ variable in hadronic final states with and without disappearing tracks in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports on searches for new physics beyond the standard model using hadronic final states with the $M_{T2}$ variable and disappearing tracks in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, setting new constraints on various BSM models.

Contribution

It introduces two related search strategies using $M_{T2}$ and disappearing tracks to probe a wide range of BSM scenarios in a large CMS dataset.

Findings

No significant excess observed over standard model predictions.

Most constraints on BSM models are the most stringent to date.

Limits set on gluino, squark, leptoquark, and long-lived particle production.

Abstract

Two related searches for phenomena beyond the standard model (BSM) are performed using events with hadronic jets and significant transverse momentum imbalance. The results are based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016-2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. The first search is inclusive, based on signal regions defined by the hadronic energy in the event, the jet multiplicity, the number of jets identified as originating from bottom quarks, and the value of the kinematic variable $M_\mathrm{T2}$ for events with at least two jets. For events with exactly one jet, the transverse momentum of the jet is used instead. The second search looks in addition for disappearing tracks produced by BSM long-lived charged particles that decay within the volume of the tracking detector. No excess event yield is observed above the predicted standard model background. This is used to constrain a range of BSM models that predict the following: the pair production of gluinos and squarks in the context of supersymmetry models conserving $R$-parity, with or without intermediate long-lived charginos produced in the decay chain; the resonant production of a colored scalar state decaying to a massive Dirac fermion and a quark; or the pair production of scalar and vector leptoquarks each decaying to a neutrino and a top, bottom, or light-flavor quark. In most of the cases, the results obtained are the most stringent constraints to date.