Paper detail

Universal mass limits on gluino and third-generation squarks in the context of Natural-like SUSY spectra

In this paper, we present results based on a combination of four inclusive topology searches for supersymmetry (SUSY) from the CMS experiment, and use this to determine universal mass limits on gluino and third-generation squarks in the context of Natural-like SUSY spectra. The class of Natural-like SUSY spectra considered follows the typical Natural SUSY model made up of a gluino, third-generation squarks, and higgsino sparticles, but is extended to more complex spectra containing sleptons. We show that the limits obtained from the combination of inclusive topology searches are far more stable than those from individual searches, with respect to the assumed underlying complexity of the spectra. Hence, these limits can be considered as universal mass limits on gluino and third-generation squarks, defined in the context of this broad class of Natural-like SUSY spectra. Furthermore, we present our results using a simple colour scheme that allows a straightforward interpretation of any Natural-like SUSY spectrum with our limits. Complementing the final results of the 2011 searches based on 5 $\textrm{fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, with the first published results from the 2012 searches using approximately 11 $\textrm{fb}^{-1}$, we find that gluinos with a mass of $m_{\tilde{g}}\approx$ 1050 GeV and third-generation top and bottom squarks with masses of $m_{\tilde{3G}}\approx$ 575 GeV are excluded for low masses of the lightest SUSY particle (LSP). We also establish a prediction of how these limits might evolve when the full 2012 data set is analysed, with both the CMS and ATLAS experiments combined. The importance of combining relevant inclusive topology searches, in order to make the most universal interpretations possible, is a general recommendation for future experimental searches at the LHC.