The Footprint of F-theory at the LHC

TL;DR

The paper connects F-theory GUT constructions to LHC phenomenology by showing that a high messenger-scale gauge mediation with a stringy PQ deformation leaves distinctive imprints on the sparticle spectrum and decay patterns. Using the footprint method, it demonstrates that 5 fb^-1 of LHC data can separate F-theory GUTs from many MSSM realizations (notably mSUGRA and low-scale GMSB), and that the PQ deformation produces observable mass shifts up to ~80 GeV (improving to ~10 GeV at 50 fb^-1). It further provides a framework to extract fundamental F-theory parameters such as N_5, Λ, and Δ_PQ from signatures, highlighting that a bino NLSP scenario yields robust discriminants via taus, b-jets, and multi-jet + missing energy channels. The results underscore the potential of collider data to probe string-scale physics indirectly and to constrain the parameter space of F-theory GUTs with practical LHC observables. Overall, the work offers a concrete methodology to connect UV string constructions to measurable collider signatures and to gauge the viability of F-theory scenarios in light of early LHC data.

Abstract

Recent work has shown that compactifications of F-theory provide a potentially attractive phenomenological scenario. The low energy characteristics of F-theory GUTs consist of a deformation away from a minimal gauge mediation scenario with a high messenger scale. The soft scalar masses of the theory are all shifted by a stringy effect which survives to low energies. This effect can range from 0 GeV up to ~ 500 GeV. In this paper we study potential collider signatures of F-theory GUTs, focussing in particular on ways to distinguish this class of models from other theories with an MSSM spectrum. To accomplish this, we have adapted the general footprint method developed recently for distinguishing broad classes of string vacua to the specific case of F-theory GUTs. We show that with only 5 fb^(-1) of simulated LHC data, it is possible to distinguish many mSUGRA models and low messenger scale gauge mediation models from F-theory GUTs. Moreover, we find that at 5 fb^(-1), the stringy deformation away from minimal gauge mediation produces observable consequences which can also be detected to a level of order ~ +/- 80 GeV. In this way, it is possible to distinguish between models with a large and small stringy deformation. At 50 fb^(-1), this improves to ~ +/- 10 GeV.

Figures (37)

• Figure 1: The range of values for the F-theory GUT parameter $\Lambda$ extends from a lower bound set by the current limits on the mass of the Higgs, to an upper bound determined by the requirement that the gluinos be light enough to be produced at the LHC.
• Figure 2: The PQ deformation parameter $\Delta_{PQ}$ of F-theory GUTs lowers the squark and slepton soft scalar masses in relation to the value expected from a high messenger scale model of minimal gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking. At $\Delta_{PQ}=0$, F-theory GUTs reduce to a high messenger scale mGMSB model. Cosmological considerations impose a lower bound on $\Delta_{PQ}$ of order $50$ GeV. Finally, there is also an upper bound on $\Delta_{PQ}$ which comes from the requirement that the slepton sector not contain a tachyonic mode.
• Figure 3: Plot of the mass spectrum of F-theory GUTs with $N_{5}=1$, $\Lambda=1.3\times10^{5}$ GeV, and minimal (red, left part of each column) and maximal (blue, right part of each column) PQ deformation. See figure \ref{['FIG:THRMESSSPEC']} in Appendix F for the spectra of three messenger models.
• Figure 4: Plots of squark masses versus the gluino mass in F-theory GUTs. The top and bottom plots are for one and two messenger models respectively. The upper line in the plots corresponds to $m_{\tilde{g}}$, while the lower one corresponds to $m_{\tilde{g}}-m_{t}$. These figures imply that the decay of the gluino in one messenger models proceeds via a 3-body process, but in two messenger models it decays in a two-body one. The three messenger case is similar to the two messenger case. The gluino mass is primarily determined by $\Lambda$, and the variations of the squark masses in these figures are due to the change of $\Delta_{PQ}$.
• Figure 5: Plot of the stau masses in F-theory GUTs versus the bino NLSP mass for $N_5=1,2,3$ messengers. The upper line in the plot corresponds to $m_{\tilde{\chi}_{2}^{0}}$, while the lower one corresponds to $m_{\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0}}$. This figure shows the typical hierarchy in the masses of $\tilde{\tau}_1$ and $\tilde{\chi}_{1,2}^{0}$. The variation in the stau mass corresponds to the change of $\Delta_{PQ}$, which becomes less significant in the bino NLSP regime as the number of messengers increases.