CMS logoCMS event Hgg
Compact Muon Solenoid
LHC, CERN

CMS-SUS-18-006 ; CERN-EP-2019-154
Search for direct pair production of supersymmetric partners to the $\tau$ lepton in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV
Eur. Phys. J. C 80 (2020) 189
Abstract: A search is presented for $\tau$ slepton pairs produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The search is carried out in events containing two $\tau$ leptons in the final state, on the assumption that each $\tau$ slepton decays primarily to a $\tau$ lepton and a neutralino. Events are considered in which each $\tau$ lepton decays to one or more hadrons and a neutrino, or in which one of the $\tau$ leptons decays instead to an electron or a muon and two neutrinos. The data, collected with the CMS detector in 2016 and 2017, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 77.2 fb$^{-1}$. The observed data are consistent with the standard model background expectation. The results are used to set 95% confidence level upper limits on the cross section for $\tau$ slepton pair production in various models for $\tau$ slepton masses between 90 and 200 GeV and neutralino masses of 1, 10, and 20 GeV. In the case of purely left-handed $\tau$ slepton production and decay to a $\tau$ lepton and a neutralino with a mass of 1 GeV, the strongest limit is obtained for a $\tau$ slepton mass of 125 GeV at a factor of 1.14 larger than the theoretical cross section.
Figures & Tables Summary References CMS Publications
Figures

png pdf
Figure 1:
Diagram for direct $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production, followed by decay of each $\tilde{\tau}$ to a $\tau$ lepton and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$.

png pdf
Figure 2:
Distributions in ${\Sigma {m_{\mathrm {T}}}}$ (left) and ${m_{\mathrm {T2}}}$ (right) for events in the combined 2016 and 2017 data sets passing the baseline selection in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state, along with the corresponding prediction for the SM background and three benchmark models for ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV, $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV. The numbers within parentheses in the legend correspond to the masses of the ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ and $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ in GeV. The last bin includes overflow events in each case. The shaded uncertainty bands represent the combined statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background.

png pdf
Figure 2-a:
Distribution in ${\Sigma {m_{\mathrm {T}}}}$ for events in the combined 2016 and 2017 data sets passing the baseline selection in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state, along with the corresponding prediction for the SM background and three benchmark models for ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV, $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV. The numbers within parentheses in the legend correspond to the masses of the ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ and $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ in GeV. The last bin includes overflow events. The shaded uncertainty bands represent the combined statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background.

png pdf
Figure 2-b:
Distribution in ${m_{\mathrm {T2}}}$ for events in the combined 2016 and 2017 data sets passing the baseline selection in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state, along with the corresponding prediction for the SM background and three benchmark models for ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV, $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV. The numbers within parentheses in the legend correspond to the masses of the ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ and $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ in GeV. The last bin includes overflow events. The shaded uncertainty bands represent the combined statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background.

png pdf
Figure 3:
Distributions in ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^\text {miss}}$ (left) and $ {m_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\text {tot}}$ (right) for events in the combined 2016 and 2017 data passing the baseline selections in the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state, along with the corresponding prediction for SM background and three benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV. The numbers within parentheses in the legend correspond to the masses of the ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ and $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ in GeV. The last bin includes overflow events in each case. The shaded uncertainty bands represent the combined statistical and average systematic uncertainties in the background.

png pdf
Figure 3-a:
Distribution in ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^\text {miss}}$ for events in the combined 2016 and 2017 data passing the baseline selections in the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state, along with the corresponding prediction for SM background and three benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV. The numbers within parentheses in the legend correspond to the masses of the ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ and $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ in GeV. The last bin includes overflow events. The shaded uncertainty bands represent the combined statistical and average systematic uncertainties in the background.

png pdf
Figure 3-b:
Distribution in $ {m_{\mathrm {T}}} ^{\text {tot}}$ for events in the combined 2016 and 2017 data passing the baseline selections in the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state, along with the corresponding prediction for SM background and three benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV. The numbers within parentheses in the legend correspond to the masses of the ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ and $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ in GeV. The last bin includes overflow events. The shaded uncertainty bands represent the combined statistical and average systematic uncertainties in the background.

png pdf
Figure 4:
Visible-mass spectra of $\tau$ lepton pairs in ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ events (left) and ${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^\text {miss}}$ distribution in ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ events (right) in data and the corresponding prediction for SM background in the combined 2016 and 2017 DY+jets validation regions. The last bin includes overflow events in each case. The shaded uncertainty band represents the statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background prediction. For the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ distribution, the systematic uncertainty included in each bin corresponds to a single common average value.

png pdf
Figure 4-a:
Visible-mass spectra of $\tau$ lepton pairs in ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ events in data and the corresponding prediction for SM background in the combined 2016 and 2017 DY+jets validation regions. The last bin includes overflow events in each case. The shaded uncertainty band represents the statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background prediction.

png pdf
Figure 4-b:
${{p_{\mathrm {T}}} ^\text {miss}}$ distribution in ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ events in data and the corresponding prediction for SM background in the combined 2016 and 2017 DY+jets validation regions. The last bin includes overflow events in each case. The shaded uncertainty band represents the statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background prediction. The systematic uncertainty included in each bin corresponds to a single common average value.

png pdf
Figure 5:
Event counts and predicted yields for the SM background in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analysis for the 2016 (left) and 2017 (right) data, before (upper) and after (lower) a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark signal models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 5-a:
Event counts and predicted yields for the SM background in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analysis for the 2016 data, before a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark signal models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 5-b:
Event counts and predicted yields for the SM background in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analysis for the 2017 data, before a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark signal models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 5-c:
Event counts and predicted yields for the SM background in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analysis for the 2016 data, after a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark signal models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 5-d:
Event counts and predicted yields for the SM background in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analysis for the 2017 data, after a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark signal models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 6:
Discriminant distributions for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2016 (left) and 2017 (right) data, before (upper) and after (lower) a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 6-a:
Discriminant distribution for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2016 data, before a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 6-b:
Discriminant distribution for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2017 data, before a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 6-c:
Discriminant distribution for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2016 data, after a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 6-d:
Discriminant distribution for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2017 data, after a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 7:
Discriminant distributions for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mathrm{e} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2016 (left) and 2017 (right) data, before (upper) and after (lower) a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 7-a:
Discriminant distribution for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mathrm{e} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2016 data, before a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 7-b:
Discriminant distribution for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mathrm{e} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2017 data, before a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 7-c:
Discriminant distribution for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mathrm{e} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2016 data, before a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 7-d:
Discriminant distribution for the BDT trained for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (BDT (100)) in the ${\mathrm{e} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final state for the 2017 data, after a maximum-likelihood fit to the data. Predicted signal yields are also shown for benchmark models of ${\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}}$ pair production with $m({\tilde{\tau} _{\mathrm {L}}})=$ 100, 125, and 200 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV.

png pdf
Figure 8:
Upper limit on the cross section ($\sigma $) of $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production excluded at 95% CL as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass in the purely left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ models for a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (upper left), 10 GeV (upper right) and 20 GeV (lower). The results shown are for the statistical combination of the 2016 and 2017 data in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\ell {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analyses. The inner (green) and outer (yellow) bands indicate the respective regions containing 68 and 95% of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The solid red line indicates the NLO+NLL prediction for the signal production cross section calculated with Resummino [39], while the red shaded band represents the uncertainty in the prediction.

png pdf
Figure 8-a:
Upper limit on the cross section ($\sigma $) of $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production excluded at 95% CL as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass in the purely left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ models for a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV. The results shown are for the statistical combination of the 2016 and 2017 data in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\ell {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analyses. The inner (green) and outer (yellow) bands indicate the respective regions containing 68 and 95% of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The solid red line indicates the NLO+NLL prediction for the signal production cross section calculated with Resummino [39], while the red shaded band represents the uncertainty in the prediction.

png pdf
Figure 8-b:
Upper limit on the cross section ($\sigma $) of $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production excluded at 95% CL as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass in the purely left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ models for a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 10 GeV. The results shown are for the statistical combination of the 2016 and 2017 data in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\ell {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analyses. The inner (green) and outer (yellow) bands indicate the respective regions containing 68 and 95% of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The solid red line indicates the NLO+NLL prediction for the signal production cross section calculated with Resummino [39], while the red shaded band represents the uncertainty in the prediction.

png pdf
Figure 8-c:
Upper limit on the cross section ($\sigma $) of $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production excluded at 95% CL as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass in the purely left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ models for a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 20 GeV. The results shown are for the statistical combination of the 2016 and 2017 data in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\ell {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analyses. The inner (green) and outer (yellow) bands indicate the respective regions containing 68 and 95% of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The solid red line indicates the NLO+NLL prediction for the signal production cross section calculated with Resummino [39], while the red shaded band represents the uncertainty in the prediction.

png pdf
Figure 9:
Upper limit on the cross section ($\sigma $) of $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production excluded at 95% CL as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass in the degenerate $\tilde{\tau}$ models for a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV (upper left), 10 GeV (upper right) and 20 GeV (lower). The results shown are for the statistical combination of the 2016 and 2017 data in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\ell {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analyses. The inner (green) and outer (yellow) bands indicate the respective regions containing 68 and 95% of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The solid red line indicates the NLO+NLL prediction for the signal production cross section calculated with Resummino [39], while the red shaded band represents the uncertainty in the prediction.

png pdf
Figure 9-a:
Upper limit on the cross section ($\sigma $) of $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production excluded at 95% CL as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass in the degenerate $\tilde{\tau}$ models for a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV. The results shown are for the statistical combination of the 2016 and 2017 data in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\ell {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analyses. The inner (green) and outer (yellow) bands indicate the respective regions containing 68 and 95% of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The solid red line indicates the NLO+NLL prediction for the signal production cross section calculated with Resummino [39], while the red shaded band represents the uncertainty in the prediction.

png pdf
Figure 9-b:
Upper limit on the cross section ($\sigma $) of $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production excluded at 95% CL as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass in the degenerate $\tilde{\tau}$ models for a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 10 GeV. The results shown are for the statistical combination of the 2016 and 2017 data in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\ell {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analyses. The inner (green) and outer (yellow) bands indicate the respective regions containing 68 and 95% of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The solid red line indicates the NLO+NLL prediction for the signal production cross section calculated with Resummino [39], while the red shaded band represents the uncertainty in the prediction.

png pdf
Figure 9-c:
Upper limit on the cross section ($\sigma $) of $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production excluded at 95% CL as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass in the degenerate $\tilde{\tau}$ models for a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 20 GeV. The results shown are for the statistical combination of the 2016 and 2017 data in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\ell {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analyses. The inner (green) and outer (yellow) bands indicate the respective regions containing 68 and 95% of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The solid red line indicates the NLO+NLL prediction for the signal production cross section calculated with Resummino [39], while the red shaded band represents the uncertainty in the prediction.
Tables

png pdf
Table 1:
Ranges in ${m_{\mathrm {T2}}}$, ${\Sigma {m_{\mathrm {T}}}}$, and ${N_{\text {j}}}$ used to define the SRs used in the ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ analysis.

png pdf
Table 2:
Systematic uncertainties of SM background predictions and a representative signal model, corresponding to a left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$, with $m(\tilde{\tau}) = $ 100 GeV and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1) = $ 1 GeV. The uncertainty ranges are given in percent. The spread of values reflects uncertainties in different SRs.

png pdf
Table 3:
Predicted background yields and observed event counts in ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ SRs in 2016 data. For the background estimates with no events in the sideband or in the simulated sample, we calculate the 68% CL upper limit on the yield. The first and second uncertainties given are statistical and systematic, respectively. We also list the predicted signal yields corresponding to the purely left-handed model for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV.

png pdf
Table 4:
Predicted background yields and observed event counts in ${{\tau _\mathrm {h}} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ SRs in 2017 data. For the background estimates with no events in the sideband or in the simulated sample, we calculate the 68% CL upper limit on the yield. The first and second uncertainties given are statistical and systematic, respectively. We also list the predicted signal yields corresponding to the purely left-handed model for a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 100 GeV and a $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ mass of 1 GeV.

png pdf
Table 5:
Predicted background yields and observed event counts in the most sensitive last bins of the BDT distributions in the ${\mathrm{e} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final states, in data collected in 2016. The numbers in parentheses in the first row are the $\tilde{\tau}$ and $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ masses corresponding to the signal model for left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production that is used to train the BDT. In the bottom row, we list the corresponding predicted signal yields in the last bin of the BDT distribution. The first and second uncertainties given are statistical and systematic, respectively.

png pdf
Table 6:
Predicted background yields and observed event counts in the most sensitive last bins of the BDT distributions in the ${\mathrm{e} {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ and ${\mu {\tau _\mathrm {h}}}$ final states, in data collected in 2017. The numbers in parentheses in the first row are the $\tilde{\tau}$ and $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ masses corresponding to the signal model for left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production that is used to train the BDT. In the bottom row, we list the corresponding predicted signal yields in the last bin of the BDT distribution. The first and second uncertainties given are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Summary
A search for direct $\tau$ slepton ($\tilde{\tau}$) pair production has been performed in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in events with a $\tau$ lepton pair and significant missing transverse momentum. Search regions are defined using kinematic observables that exploit expected differences in discriminants between signal and background. The data used for this search correspond to an integrated luminosity of 77.2 fb$^{-1}$ collected in 2016 and 2017 with the CMS detector. No excess above the expected standard model background has been observed. Upper limits have been set on the cross section for direct $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production for simplified models in which each $\tilde{\tau}$ decays to a $\tau$ lepton and the lightest neutralino, with the latter being assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle. For purely left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production, the analysis is most sensitive to a $\tilde{\tau}$ mass of 125 GeV when the neutralino is nearly massless. The observed limit is a factor of 1.14 larger than the expected production cross section in this model. The limits observed for left-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ pair production are the strongest obtained thus far for low values of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass. In a more optimistic, degenerate production model, in which both left- and right-handed $\tilde{\tau}$ pairs are produced, we exclude $\tilde{\tau}$ masses up to 150 GeV, again under the assumption of a nearly massless neutralino. These results represent the first exclusion reported for this model for low values of the $\tilde{\tau}$ mass between 90 and 120 GeV.
References
1 P. Ramond Dual theory for free fermions PRD 3 (1971) 2415
2 Y. A. Gol'fand and E. P. Likhtman Extension of the algebra of Poincaré group generators and violation of P invariance JEPTL 13 (1971)323
3 A. Neveu and J. H. Schwarz Factorizable dual model of pions NPB 31 (1971) 86
4 D. V. Volkov and V. P. Akulov Possible universal neutrino interaction JEPTL 16 (1972)438
5 J. Wess and B. Zumino A Lagrangian model invariant under supergauge transformations PLB 49 (1974) 52
6 J. Wess and B. Zumino Supergauge transformations in four dimensions NPB 70 (1974) 39
7 P. Fayet Supergauge invariant extension of the Higgs mechanism and a model for the electron and its neutrino NPB 90 (1975) 104
8 H. P. Nilles Supersymmetry, supergravity and particle physics Phys. Rep. 110 (1984) 1
9 G. 't Hooft Naturalness, chiral symmetry, and spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking NATO Sci. Ser. B 59 (1980)135
10 E. Witten Dynamical breaking of supersymmetry NPB 188 (1981) 513
11 M. Dine, W. Fischler, and M. Srednicki Supersymmetric technicolor NPB 189 (1981) 575
12 S. Dimopoulos and S. Raby Supercolor NPB 192 (1981) 353
13 S. Dimopoulos and H. Georgi Softly broken supersymmetry and SU(5) NPB 193 (1981) 150
14 R. K. Kaul and P. Majumdar Cancellation of quadratically divergent mass corrections in globally supersymmetric spontaneously broken gauge theories NPB 199 (1982) 36
15 C. Boehm, A. Djouadi, and M. Drees Light scalar top quarks and supersymmetric dark matter PRD 62 (2000) 035012 hep-ph/9911496
16 C. Bal\'azs, M. Carena, and C. E. M. Wagner Dark matter, light stops and electroweak baryogenesis PRD 70 (2004) 015007 hep-ph/403224
17 G. R. Farrar and P. Fayet Phenomenology of the production, decay, and detection of new hadronic states associated with supersymmetry PLB 76 (1978) 575
18 G. Jungman, M. Kamionkowski, and K. Griest Supersymmetric dark matter PR 267 (1996) 195 hep-ph/9506380
19 G. Hinshaw et al. Nine-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations: cosmological parameter results Astrophys. J. Suppl. 208 (2013) 19 1212.5226
20 K. Griest and D. Seckel Three exceptions in the calculation of relic abundances PRD 43 (1991) 3191
21 D. A. Vasquez, G. B\'elanger, and C. Boehm Revisiting light neutralino scenarios in the MSSM PRD 84 (2011) 095015 1108.1338
22 S. F. King, J. P. Roberts, and D. P. Roy Natural dark matter in SUSY GUTs with non-universal gaugino masses JHEP 10 (2007) 106 0705.4219
23 M. Battaglia et al. Proposed post-LEP benchmarks for supersymmetry EPJC 22 (2001) 535 hep-ph/0106204
24 R. L. Arnowitt et al. Determining the dark matter relic density in the minimal supergravity stau-neutralino coannihilation region at the Large Hadron Collider PRL 100 (2008) 231802 0802.2968
25 G. B\'elanger, S. Biswas, C. Boehm, and B. Mukhopadhyaya Light neutralino dark matter in the MSSM and its implication for LHC searches for staus JHEP 12 (2012) 076 1206.5404
26 E. Arganda, V. Martin-Lozano, A. D. Medina, and N. Mileo Potential discovery of staus through heavy Higgs boson decays at the LHC JHEP 09 (2018) 056 1804.10698
27 J. Alwall, P. Schuster, and N. Toro Simplified models for a first characterization of new physics at the LHC PRD 79 (2009) 075020 0810.3921
28 J. Alwall, M.-P. Le, M. Lisanti, and J. Wacker Model-independent jets plus missing energy searches PRD 79 (2009) 015005 0809.3264
29 LHC New Physics Working Group Simplified models for LHC new physics searches JPG 39 (2012) 105005 1105.2838
30 ALEPH Collaboration Search for scalar leptons in e$ ^{+} $e$ ^{-} $ collisions at center-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV PLB 526 (2002) 206 hep-ex/0112011
31 DELPHI Collaboration Searches for supersymmetric particles in e$ ^{+} $e$ ^{-} $ collisions up to 208 GeV and interpretation of the results within the MSSM EPJC 31 (2003) 421 hep-ex/0311019
32 L3 Collaboration Search for scalar leptons and scalar quarks at LEP PLB 580 (2004) 37 hep-ex/0310007
33 OPAL Collaboration Search for anomalous production of dilepton events with missing transverse momentum in e$ ^{+} $e$ ^{-} $ collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 183 GeV to 209 GeV EPJC 32 (2004) 453 hep-ex/0309014
34 ATLAS Collaboration Search for the direct production of charginos, neutralinos and staus in final states with at least two hadronically decaying taus and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector JHEP 10 (2014) 96 1407.0350
35 ATLAS Collaboration Search for the electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in $ \sqrt{s} = $ 8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector PRD 93 (2016) 052002 1509.07152
36 CMS Collaboration Search for electroweak production of charginos in final states with two tau leptons in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}= $ 8 TeV JHEP 04 (2017) 018 CMS-SUS-14-022
1610.04870
37 CMS Collaboration Search for supersymmetry in events with a $ \tau $ lepton pair and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV JHEP 11 (2018) 151 CMS-SUS-17-003
1807.02048
38 GEANT4 Collaboration GEANT4 --- a simulation toolkit NIMA 506 (2003) 250
39 B. Fuks, M. Klasen, D. R. Lamprea, and M. Rothering Revisiting slepton pair production at the Large Hadron Collider JHEP 01 (2014) 168 1310.2621
40 CMS Collaboration The CMS trigger system JINST 12 (2017) P01020 CMS-TRG-12-001
1609.02366
41 CMS Collaboration The CMS experiment at the CERN LHC JINST 3 (2008) S08004 CMS-00-001
42 CMS Collaboration Particle-flow reconstruction and global event description with the CMS detector JINST 12 (2017) P10003 CMS-PRF-14-001
1706.04965
43 CMS Collaboration Performance of missing transverse momentum reconstruction in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV using the CMS detector JINST 14 (2019) P07004 CMS-JME-17-001
1903.06078
44 M. Cacciari, G. P. Salam, and G. Soyez The anti-$ {k_{\mathrm{T}}} $ jet clustering algorithm JHEP 04 (2008) 063 0802.1189
45 M. Cacciari, G. P. Salam, and G. Soyez FastJet user manual EPJC 72 (2012) 1896 1111.6097
46 CMS Collaboration Study of pileup removal algorithms for jets CMS-PAS-JME-14-001 CMS-PAS-JME-14-001
47 CMS Collaboration Identification of heavy-flavour jets with the CMS detector in pp collisions at 13 TeV JINST 13 (2018) P05011 CMS-BTV-16-002
1712.07158
48 CMS Collaboration Performance of electron reconstruction and selection with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 8 TeV JINST 10 (2015) P06005 CMS-EGM-13-001
1502.02701
49 CMS Collaboration Performance of the CMS muon detector and muon reconstruction with proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV JINST 13 (2018) P06015 CMS-MUO-16-001
1804.04528
50 CMS Collaboration Performance of reconstruction and identification of $ \tau $ leptons decaying to hadrons and $ \nu_\tau $ in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}= $ 13 TeV JINST 13 (2018) P10005 CMS-TAU-16-003
1809.02816
51 Y. Lecun, L. Bottou, Y. Bengio, and P. Haffner Gradient-based learning applied to document recognition in Proceedings of the IEEE, p. 2278 1998
52 J. Alwall et al. The automated computation of tree-level and next-to-leading order differential cross sections, and their matching to parton shower simulations JHEP 07 (2014) 079 1405.0301
53 P. Nason A new method for combining NLO QCD with shower Monte Carlo algorithms JHEP 11 (2004) 040 hep-ph/0409146
54 S. Frixione, P. Nason, and C. Oleari Matching NLO QCD computations with parton shower simulations: the POWHEG method JHEP 11 (2007) 070 0709.2092
55 S. Alioli, P. Nason, C. Oleari, and E. Re A general framework for implementing NLO calculations in shower Monte Carlo programs: the POWHEG BOX JHEP 06 (2010) 043 1002.2581
56 E. Re Single-top $ Wt $-channel production matched with parton showers using the POWHEG method EPJC 71 (2011) 1547 1009.2450
57 T. Sjostrand et al. An introduction to PYTHIA 8.2 CPC 191 (2015) 159 1410.3012
58 A. Kalogeropoulos and J. Alwall The SysCalc code: A tool to derive theoretical systematic uncertainties 1801.08401
59 CMS Collaboration Event generator tunes obtained from underlying event and multiparton scattering measurements EPJC 76 (2016) 155 CMS-GEN-14-001
1512.00815
60 CMS Collaboration Investigations of the impact of the parton shower tuning in Pythia 8 in the modelling of $ \mathrm{t\overline{t}} $ at $ \sqrt{s}= $ 8 and 13 TeV CMS-PAS-TOP-16-021 CMS-PAS-TOP-16-021
61 CMS Collaboration Extraction and validation of a new set of CMS PYTHIA8 tunes from underlying-event measurements Submitted to EPJC CMS-GEN-17-001
1903.12179
62 NNPDF Collaboration Parton distributions for the LHC Run II JHEP 04 (2015) 040 1410.8849
63 CMS Collaboration Search for top-squark pair production in the single-lepton final state in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 8 TeV EPJC 73 (2013) 2677 CMS-SUS-13-011
1308.1586
64 C. G. Lester and D. J. Summers Measuring masses of semi-invisibly decaying particle pairs produced at hadron colliders PLB 463 (1999) 99 hep-ph/9906349
65 A. Barr, C. Lester, and P. Stephens $ m_{\mathrm{T2}} $: the truth behind the glamour JPG 29 (2003) 2343 hep-ph/0304226
66 C. G. Lester and B. Nachman Bisection-based asymmetric $ m_{\mathrm{T2}} $ computation: a higher precision calculator than existing symmetric methods JHEP 03 (2015) 100 1411.4312
67 D. Tovey On measuring the masses of pair-produced semi-invisibly decaying particles at hadron colliders JHEP 04 (2008) 034 0802.2879
68 G. Polesello and D. Tovey Supersymmetric particle mass measurement with boost-corrected contransverse mass JHEP 03 (2010) 030 0910.0174
69 C. Cuenca Almenar Search for the neutral MSSM Higgs bosons in the ditau decay channels at CDF Run II PhD thesis, Valencia U., IFIC
70 CMS Collaboration Search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons decaying to a pair of tau leptons in pp collisions JHEP 10 (2014) 160 CMS-HIG-13-021
1408.3316
71 L. Demortier P values and nuisance parameters in Statistical issues for LHC physics. Proceedings, Workshop, PHYSTAT-LHC, Geneva, Switzerland, June 27-29, 2007, p. 23 2008
72 CMS Collaboration Measurement of the differential Drell-Yan cross section in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV Submitted to JHEP CMS-SMP-17-001
1812.10529
73 CMS Collaboration Measurements of $ \mathrm{t\overline{t}} $ differential cross sections in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s}= $ 13 TeV using events containing two leptons JHEP 02 (2019) 149 CMS-TOP-17-014
1811.06625
74 CMS Collaboration CMS luminosity measurements for the 2016 data taking period CMS-PAS-LUM-17-001 CMS-PAS-LUM-17-001
75 CMS Collaboration CMS luminosity measurement for the 2017 data-taking period at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV CMS-PAS-LUM-17-004 CMS-PAS-LUM-17-004
76 CMS Collaboration Interpretation of searches for supersymmetry with simplified models PRD 88 (2013) 052017 CMS-SUS-11-016
1301.2175
77 T. Junk Confidence level computation for combining searches with small statistics NIMA 434 (1999) 435 hep-ex/9902006
78 A. L. Read Presentation of search results: the $ \text{CL}_\text{s} $ technique JPG 28 (2002) 2693
79 The ATLAS Collaboration, The CMS Collaboration, The LHC Higgs Combination Group Procedure for the LHC Higgs boson search combination in Summer 2011 CMS-NOTE-2011-005
80 G. Cowan, K. Cranmer, E. Gross, and O. Vitells Asymptotic formulae for likelihood-based tests of new physics EPJC 71 (2011) 1554 1007.1727
Compact Muon Solenoid
LHC, CERN