Search for Supersymmetry in the 4-lepton final state with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

The four-lepton final state, rare in standard model processes, is an attractive channel for new physics searches at the LHC. In supersymmetry (SUSY), charged leptons may arise from R-Parity conserving (RPC) cascade decays of SUSY particles to the lightest supersymmetric particle, or from R-Parity violating (RPV) decays to standard model particles. This paper presents a search for supersymmetry in events with at least four charged leptons carried out using 20.3 $\text{fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data taken with the ATLAS detector at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV during the 2012 LHC run. Up to two of the leptons may be hadronically decaying tau leptons, enhancing the sensitivity to tau-enriched scenarios. A high sensitivity to a wide range of R-Parity conserving and violating supersymmetric models is achieved.