B_s -> mu mu as a Probe of Tan(beta) at the Tevatron

Abstract

Recently it has been understood that flavor-changing processes mediated by Higgs bosons could be a new and powerful tool for discovering supersymmetry. In this paper we show that they may also provide an important method for constraining the parameters of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). Specifically, we show that observation of B_s -> mu mu at the Tevatron implies a significant, model-independent lower bound on tan(beta) in the MSSM. This is very important because tan(beta) enters crucially in predictions and interpretations of the MSSM, though it is difficult to measure. Within specific models, or with other data, the bound becomes significantly stronger.