Search For Supersymmetry In Events With B Jets And Missing Transverse Momentum At The Lhc

A search for supersymmetry is presented using a sample of events with b jets and missing transverse momentum. The search uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse picobarns, collected with the CMS detector. A total of 0.33 +0.43 -0.33 (stat.) +/- 0.13 (syst.) events is predicted, using control samples in the data, to arise from standard model processes, and one event is observed in the data. Upper limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the cross sections of benchmark supersymmetric models.

This thesis describes a search for supersymmetry (SUSY) at the Large Hadron Collider using data collected in Run 2011 at center of mass energy of 7 TeV by the Compact Muon Solenoid detector with an integrated luminosity of 4.98 $fb{-1}$. First, the Large Hadron Collider is briefly described along with the Compact Muon Solenoid detector. Second, the Standard Model of particle physics is described which leads to the motivations for supersymmetry and its description. Finally, a search for supersymmetry in events with a single lepton, 2 b-tagged jets and missing transverse energy is documented in detail. The results are used to predict the yields from the standard model in bins missing transverse energy (\met) and total transverse hadronic energy (HT). Limits are set using these results using a minimal supergravity SUSY model and simplified model spectra SUSY model.

This dissertation presents results from a search for physics beyond the Standard Model, using 19.39 pb-1 of data collected by the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, during its 2012 operation at √ s=8 TeV. It focuses on models of supersymmetry that lead to final states with multiple jets, especially those from b-quark decay, and a large amount of missing transverse momentum. The amounts of background from top-quark, W+jets, Z → nu[special character omitted], and multi-jet production are determined from data-driven techniques. In particular, this includes a novel estimation of the ETmiss spectrum from semi-leptonic tt ̄ decay, which takes advantage of the precise knowledge of the W boson polarization. Predicted yields are consistent with simulated Standard Model processes and the observed data. Since no evidence of new physics is observed, limits are placed on the rate of gluino pair production to a final state with four b-quarks and two neutralinos. This process is excluded at 95% CL for a gluino with mass 1225 GeV and a neutralino with mass up to 350 GeV.

As successful as the Standard Model of particle physics has been it still has several major shortcomings which range from unanswered theoretical questions to a lack of any explanation for observed phenomena such as dark matter. One proposed theory for physics beyond the Standard Model which provides solutions for some of these issues is supersymmetry. This dissertation presents a search for supersymmetry using 2.3 fb -1 of proton-proton collision data. This data was collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the CMS detector at the LHC during 2015. This search focuses on top squark pair production where the produced stops both decay to an all hadronic final state. These decays are characterized by multiple jets and missing transverse momentum. A baseline search region is defined to be sensitive to signal processes which occur at rates many orders of magnitude lower than Standard Model processes. The sensitivity to various signal models is improved by dividing this baseline region into distinct categories. Events with an unreconstructed lepton from leptonic W boson decays constitute the primary background. There are also significant contributions from events where a Z boson decays invisibly to neutrinos especially in bins with higher missing transverse momentum. Events with multijet production where one jet has been severely mis-measured as well as those with a pair of top quarks and an invisibly decaying Z boson also have a small presence in the search region. The contributions from these processes to the search region is estimated using data control regions. No statistically significant deviations from the predicted background yields are observed. The results are interpreted in terms of exclusion limits using the Simplified Model Spectrum framework. Stop and neutralino masses are probed up to 780 GeV and 260 GeV respectively.

A search for supersymmetry is performed in events with a single electron or muon in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns. Several exclusive search regions are defined based on the number of jets and b-tagged jets, the scalar sum of the jet transverse momenta, and the scalar sum of the missing transverse momentum and the transverse momentum of the lepton. The observed event yields in data are consistent with the expected backgrounds from standard model processes. The results are interpreted using two simplified models of supersymmetric particle spectra, both of which describe gluino pair production. In the first model, each gluino decays via a three-body process to top quarks and a neutralino, which is associated with the observed missing transverse momentum in the event. Gluinos with masses up to 1.6 TeV are excluded for neutralino masses below 600 GeV. In the second model, each gluino decays via a three-body process to two light quarks and a chargino, which subsequently decays to a W boson and a neutralino. The mass of the chargino is taken to be midway between the gluino and neutralino masses. In this model, gluinos with masses below 1.4 TeV are excluded for neutralino masses below 700 GeV.

A search for events with jets and missing transverse energy is performed in a data sample of pp collisions collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.14 inverse femtobarns. In this search, a kinematic variable, alphaT, is used as the main discriminator between events with genuine and misreconstructed missing transverse energy. No excess of events over the standard model expectation is found. Exclusion limits in the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model are set. In this model, squark masses below 1.1 TeV are excluded at 95% CL. Gluino masses below 1.1 TeV are also ruled out at 95% CL for values of the universal scalar mass parameter below 500 GeV.

A search for new physics is performed based on all-hadronic events with large missing transverse momentum produced in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=13 TeV. The data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns, was collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in 2015. The data are examined in search regions of jet multiplicity, tagged bottom quark jet multiplicity, missing transverse momentum, and the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta. The observed numbers of events in all search regions are found to be consistent with the expectations from standard model processes. Exclusion limits are presented for simplified supersymmetric models of gluino pair production. Depending on the assumed gluino decay mechanism, and for a massless, weakly interacting, lightest neutralino, lower limits on the gluino mass from 1440 to 1600 GeV are obtained, significantly extending previous limits.

This PhD thesis documents two of the highest-profile searches for supersymmetry performed at the ATLAS experiment using up to 80/fb of proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) during its Run 2 (2015-2018). The signals of interest feature a high multiplicity of jets originating from the hadronisation of b-quarks and large missing transverse momentum, which constitutes one of the most promising final state signatures for discovery of new phenomena at the LHC. The first search is focused on the strong production of a pair of gluinos, with each gluino decaying into a neutralino and a top-antitop-quark pair or a bottom-antibottom-quark pair. The second search targets the pair production of higgsinos, with each higgsino decaying into a gravitino and a Higgs boson, which in turn is required to decay into a bottom-antibottom-quark pair. Both searches employ state-of-the-art experimental techniques and analysis strategies at the LHC, resulting in some of the most restrictive bounds available to date on the masses of the gluino,neutralino, and higgsino in the context of the models explored.

Zusammenfassung: In this thesis, searches for Supersymmetry (SUSY) with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV are presented. The focus lies on two searches for squarks of the third generation, specifically the direct production of stop pairs and the production of stops via the decay of gluinos. The searches are based on experimental signatures with large missing transverse energy, b-quark jets and one electron or muon. The datasets used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 and 2.05 fb-1, respectively. Inclusive observables, which are sensitive to the mass scale of SUSY particles are used to discriminate the signal from the Standard Model (SM) background processes. In both analyses, dedicated background estimation techniques are used. Control samples in data are used to supplement or replace the background estimation from Monte Carlo simulation. No significant excess beyond the SM expectation is found. Therefore, both model independent upper limits on physics beyond the SM are derived and model specific interpretations are given

The results of a search for new physics in final states with jets, either photons or leptons, and low missing transverse momentum are reported. The study is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected at a center-of-mass energy View the MathML source with the CMS detector in 2012. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 19.7 fb-1. Many models of new physics predict the production of events with jets, electroweak gauge bosons, and little or no missing transverse momentum. Examples include stealth models of supersymmetry (SUSY), which predict a hidden sector at the electroweak energy scale in which SUSY is approximately conserved. Furthermore, the data are used to search for stealth SUSY signatures in final states with either two photons or an oppositely charged electron and muon. No excess is observed with respect to the standard model expectation, and the results are used to set limits on squark pair production in the stealth SUSY framework.