RUI: Supersymmetric Theory, Phenomenology, and Tool Building

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville TX

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds the research of Professor Joel W. Walker at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Research activities are to include the phenomenological investigation of topics broadly related to the subject of "supersymmetry", as well as the engineering and distribution of original software tools enhancing the productivity and efficiency of this and related studies. Supersymmetry is an idea that may protect the relatively light mass of the Higgs Boson observed by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012 from drifting to a much heavier value. It works by hypothesizing the existence of a new class of particles whose interactions would naturally cancel the destabilizing effects of the known particles. These supersymmetric particles simultaneously provide a suitable candidate for the cosmological "dark matter" and are themselves a primary target for discovery in collisions at the LHC. Efforts to clarify the role of supersymmetry in low energy physics, and the search for new fundamental particles and interactions, benefit the national interest in advancing basic scientific knowledge. Sam Houston State University is a primarily undergraduate institution that takes pride in its proportional over-representation of female, minority, and low-income students. Specific activities will be designated for undergraduate participation that are sufficiently narrow and systematic in scope for students to productively engage at an early juncture, even as they are becoming more widely educated. This real-world research exposure offers broader impacts on self-confidence, team integration, algorithmic problem solving, and systematic handling of data, while enhancing the likelihood of transitioning a successful high-energy physics graduate student. More technically, specific topics itemized for investigation include experimental signatures of novel supersymmetric mass hierarchies, isolation of distinctive decay modes such as long-chain cascades, contemporary applications of collider discriminants such as a boosted event topology, methods for probing the spin composition of dark matter, and the phenomenology of well motivated alternatives to the minimal supersymmetric picture such as string-derived large volume scenarios and decays of the higgsino to the singlino dark matter candidate in the NMSSM. A key methodology employed in the prior will be the numerical generation and analysis of Monte Carlo collider data simulations. Support for these objectives will also be rendered by the authoring, documentation, and dissemination of programs useful to similarly interested researchers, e.g. for safe, fast computation of the asymmetric 2-step MT2 event statistic, and for the expeditious selection, optimization, analysis, and visualization of simulated collider event data.