A search is presented for direct chargino production based on a disappearing-track signature using 20.3 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV collected with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB) models, the lightest chargino is nearly mass-degenerate with the lightest neutralino and its lifetime is long enough to be detected in the tracking detectors by identifying decays that result in tracks with no associated hits in the outer region of the tracking system. Some models with supersymmetry also predict charginos with a significant lifetime. This analysis attains sensitivity for charginos with a lifetime between 0.1 ns and 10 ns, and significantly surpasses the reach of the LEP experiments. No significant excess above the background expectation is observed for candidate tracks with large transverse momentum, and constraints on chargino properties are obtained. In the AMSB scenarios, a chargino mass below 270 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level.
The pT distribution of disappearing-track candidates.
Observed CLs contour in the ( M(CHARGINO), TAU(CHARGINO) ) space for tan(beta) = 5 and mu > 0.
Observed CLs contour with minus 1-sigma signal cross-section uncertainty in the ( M(CHARGINO), TAU(CHARGINO) ) space for tan(beta) = 5 and mu > 0.
A search has been performed for photons originating in the decay of a neutral long-lived particle, exploiting the capabilities of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter to make precise measurements of the flight direction of photons, as well as the calorimeter's excellent time resolution. The search has been made in the diphoton plus missing transverse energy final state, using the full data sample of 4.8/fb of 7 TeV proton-proton collisions collected in 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No excess is observed above the background expected from Standard Model processes. The results are used to set exclusion limits in the context of Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking models, with the lightest neutralino being the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle and decaying with a lifetime in excess of 0.25 ns into a photon and a gravitino.
The 95% CL observed number of signal events vs lifetime for a neutralino with Lambda of 120 TeV together with the SM expectation and the predicition of the SPS8 GMSB model.
The 95% CL observed cross-section vs lifetime for a neutralino with Lambda of 120 TeV together with the SM expectation and the predicition of the SPS8 GMSB model.
The observed exclusion limits on neutralino lifetime as a function of lambda together with the SM expectation.
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