Hadron Multiplicities in the Presence of Light Gluinos

Abstract

We consider the effect of a massless gluino on the evolution of a parton shower. The hadron multiplicity distribution is predicted to evolve as a function of the collider energy in the same way as in the absence of gluinos, except for a slower running of $\alpha_s$. A comparison of the predicted average hadron multiplicity with experimental data is presented as a fit constraining the values of the strong coupling constant at the $Z^0$ peak $\alpha_s(m_Z)$ and the scale of the onset of hadronization $m_0$. It appears that \lgl s are unlikely to be detected this way with less than 500 GeV of \cm\ energy.