Particle Phenomenology of Gravitational Events at the TeV Scale

Abstract

If the fundamental scale of gravity is of the order of 1 TeV, black holes might be produced at the Large Hadron Collider. This work presents simulations of black holes and other exotic models of physics beyond the Standard Model - supersymmetry, extra dimensional models and string theory. Isolated leptons with high transverse momenta can be used to distinguish black holes from supersymmetry and models of extra dimensions. Z0 bosons and photons with high transverse momenta allow the discrimination of black holes and string resonances. The analysis of visible and missing energy/momenta and event shape variables complement these techniques.

Comments: Ph. D. Thesis, University of Mississippi, June 2009