New Physics Models in the Diphoton Final State at CMS

Author: Wang, Ann Miao

Year: 2015

Degree: Senior thesis (Major)

Advisors: Spiropulu, Maria; Duarte, Javier; Pena Herrera, Cristian

Committee Members: Stone, Edward C.; Golwala, Sunil; Politzer, Hugh David; Frautschi, Steven C.; Libbrecht, Kenneth George; Refael, Gil

Option: Physics

DOI: 10.7907/Z9CC0XMN

Abstract

Since the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC, its use as a probe to search for beyond the standard model physics, such as supersymmetry, has become important, as seen in a recent search by the CMS experiment using razor variables in the diphoton final state. Motivated by this search, this thesis examines the LHC discovery potential of a SUSY scenario involving bottom squark pair production with a Higgs boson in the final state. We design and implement a software-based trigger using the razor variables for the CMS experiment to record events with a bottom quark-antiquark pair from a Higgs boson. We characterize the full range of signatures at the LHC from this Higgs-aware SUSY scenario and demonstrate the sensitivity of the CMS data to this model.

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