Abstract
We consider supergravity with a gravitino lightest supersymmetric particle. The next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) decays to the gravitino with lifetime naturally in the range ${10}^{4}\ensuremath{-}{10}^{8}\mathrm{s}$. However, cosmological constraints exclude lifetimes at the upper end of this range and disfavor neutralinos as NLSPs, leaving charged sleptons with lifetimes below a year as the natural NLSP candidates. Decays to gravitinos may therefore be observed by trapping slepton NLSPs in water tanks placed outside Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and International Linear Collider (ILC) detectors and draining these tanks periodically to underground reservoirs where slepton decays may be observed in quiet environments. We consider 0.1, 1, and 10 kton traps and optimize their shape and placement. We find that the LHC may trap tens to thousands of sleptons per year. At the ILC, these results may be improved by an order of magnitude in some cases by tuning the beam energy to produce slow sleptons. Precision studies of slepton decays are therefore possible and will provide direct observations of gravitational effects at colliders; percent level measurements of the gravitino mass and Newton's constant; precise determinations of the gravitino's contribution to dark matter and supersymmetry breaking's contribution to dark energy; quantitative tests of supergravity relations; and laboratory studies of Big Bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background phenomena.
Highlights
Weak-scale supersymmetry remains a beautiful framework for resolving the problems of electroweak symmetry breaking and dark matter [1], and its discovery is among the most eagerly anticipated events in particle physics.Opportunities for supersymmetry discoveries and studies at colliders depend largely on which superpartner is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP)
We find that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) may trap tens to thousands of sleptons per year
Supersymmetry is transmitted to standard model superpartners through gravitational interactions, and supersymmetry is broken at a high scale
Summary
Weak-scale supersymmetry remains a beautiful framework for resolving the problems of electroweak symmetry breaking and dark matter [1], and its discovery is among the most eagerly anticipated events in particle physics. Photons produced in NLSP decays are subject to bounds on the diffuse photon flux The impact of these constraints on the gravitino LSP scenario have been considered in detail. The result is that the gravitino LSP scenario is not excluded and, all constraints may be satisfied for natural weak-scale NLSP and gravitino masses. Given all of these motivations, we investigate here the collider implications of a gravitino LSP with a charged slepton NLSP with lifetime under (but not much under) a year [27]. These results imply that percent level studies of slepton decays may be possible Such studies will have fundamental implications for supergravity, supersymmetry breaking, dark matter, and dark energy.
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