FCNC-induced heavy-quark events at the LHC from supersymmetry

Abstract

We analyze the production and subsequent decay of the neutral Higgs bosons h ≡ h 0 , H 0 , A 0 of the MSSM into electrically neutral quark pairs of different flavors ( q q ′ ≡ t c , b s , depending on h) at the LHC, i.e. σ ( p p → h → q q ′ ) , and compare with the direct FCNC production mechanisms σ ( p p → q q ′ ) . The cross-sections are computed in the unconstrained MSSM with minimal flavor-mixing sources and taking into account the stringent bounds from b → s γ . We extend the results previously found for these FCNC processes, which are singularly uncommon in the SM. Specifically, we report here on the SUSY-EW part of σ ( p p → h → q q ′ ) and the SUSY-QCD and SUSY-EW contributions to σ ( p p → b s ) . In this way, the complete map of MSSM predictions for the q q ′ -pairs produced at the LHC becomes available. The upshot is that the most favorable channels are: (1) the Higgs boson FCNC decays into bs, and (2) the direct production of tc pairs, both of them at the ∼ 1 pb level and mediated by SUSY-QCD effects. If, however, the SUSY-QCD part is suppressed, we find a small SUSY-EW yield for σ ( p p → h → t c ) max ∼ 10 −4 pb but, at the same time, σ ( p p → h → b s ) max ∼ 0.1 – 1 pb , which implies a significant number ( ∼ 10 4 – 10 5 ) of bs pairs per 100 fb −1 of integrated luminosity.