The importance of tau leptons for supersymmetry searches at the Tevatron

Abstract

Supersymmetry is perhaps most effectively probed at the Tevatron through production and decay of weak gauginos. Most of the analyses of weak gaugino observables require electrons or muons in the final state. However, it is possible that the gauginos will decay primarily to tau leptons, thus complicating the search for supersymmetry. The motivating reasons for high tau multiplicity final states are discussed in three approaches to supersymmetry model building: minimal supergravity, gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking, and more minimal supersymmetry. The concept of ``e/mu/tau candidate'' is introduced, and an observable with three e/mu/tau candidates is defined in analog to the trilepton observable. The maximum mass reach for supersymmetry is then estimated when gaugino decays to tau leptons have full branching fraction.