Supersymmetry on the Rocks

Abstract

In R-parity conserving supersymmetric (SUSY) models the lightest SUSY particle (LSP) is stable and a candidate for dark matter. Depending on the coupling and mass of this particle the life time of the next-to-lightest SUSY particle (NLSP) may be large compared to experimental time scales. In particular, if the NLSP is a charged particle and its decay length is of the order of the Earth's diameter Cherenkov telescopes might observe parallel muon-like tracks of NLSP pairs produced in neutrino-nucleon interactions in the Earth's interior. We have investigated two SUSY scenarios with a long-lived stau NLSP and a gravitino LSP in view of the observability at the IceCube detector.