Supersymmetry at the dawn of the LHC era

In this thesis, I explore various experimental, theoretical, and observational consequences of supersymmetry (SUSY). I show how copious production of Higgs bosons in SUSY events at the LHC can be a striking signal of multiple SUSY-breaking. In the context of anomaly mediation in supergravity, I demonstrate how goldstino couplings can be used as a probe of the underlying symmetry structure of unbroken SUSY in anti-de Sitter space. When multiple SUSY-breaking occurs and goldstini comprise most of the dark matter in the universe, I find a new two-body decay mode of a goldstini to a gravitino and a single photon that could be a striking indirect detection of dark matter if it were seen at gamma-ray telescopes such as FERMI.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Thomas, Zoe Talbott

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jesse Thaler.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91074

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/91074