Disappearing charged tracks in association with displaced leptons from supersymmetry

Abstract

In this note we discuss a characteristic collider signature of models of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking in which the selectron and smuon are mass-degenerate co-NLSP. In these models, all processes involving superpartners give rise to two NLSP selectrons or smuons, each of which subsequently decays to a nearly massless LSP gravitino and an electron or a muon. In a large region of the parameter space, the NLSPs travel macroscopic distances, of the order 0.1-1000 mm, before they decay. Hence, these models give rise to collider signatures involving charged tracks that end at vertices, which are inside the detector volume but displaced with respect to the original collision point, from which an electron or a muon is emitted. In order to probe this class of models we propose a search for disappearing charged tracks in association with displaced electrons or muons.