Collider Signature of T-quarks

TL;DR

This paper investigates the collider signatures of T-quarks in Little Higgs models with T Parity, demonstrating that Tevatron data can probe T-quark masses up to 400 GeV and explore dark matter-compatible parameter space.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of T-quark signatures at colliders, highlighting the potential of Tevatron and LHC searches to test these models.

Findings

Tevatron Run II can probe T-quark masses up to 400 GeV.

Searches can explore parameter space consistent with dark matter relic abundance.

Potential for future LHC searches to extend these results.

Abstract

Little Higgs models with T Parity contain new vector-like fermions, the T-odd quarks or "T-quarks", which can be produced at hadron colliders with a QCD-strength cross section. Events with two acoplanar jets and large missing transverse energy provide a simple signature of T-quark production. We show that searches for this signature with the Tevatron Run II data can probe a significant part of the Little Higgs model parameter space not accessible to previous experiments, exploring T-quark masses up to about 400 GeV. This reach covers parts of the parameter space where the lightest T-odd particle can account for the observed dark matter relic abundance. We also comment on the prospects for this search at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).