Precise predictions for top quark plus missing energy signatures at the LHC

Abstract

We study the pair production of scalar top-quark partners decaying to a top-quark pair plus large missing energy at the LHC, a signature which appears in numerous models that address outstanding problems at the TeV-scale. The severe experimental search cuts require a description which combines higher-order corrections to both production and decay dynamics for a realistic final state. We do this at next-to-leading order in QCD for the first time. We find large, kinematic-dependent QCD corrections that differ dramatically depending upon the observable under consideration, potentially impacting the search for and interpretation of these states.

Comments: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, references added, discussion extended, accepted for publication in PRL