Search for physics beyond the standard model in events with a Z boson, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Authors

CMS Collaboration
Ekaterina Avdeeva, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kenneth A. Bloom, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
S. Bose, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Jamila Butt, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Daniel R. Claes, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Aaron Dominguez, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Michael Eads, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
P. Jindal, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J. Keller, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Ilya Kravchenko, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
J. Lazo-Flores, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
H. Malbouisson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Sudhir Malik, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Gregory Snow, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Physics Letters B 716 (2012) 260–284; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2012.08.026

Abstract

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in events with a Z boson, jets, and missing transverse energy (E^miss_T ). This signature is motivated by BSM physics scenarios, including supersymmetry. The study is performed using a sample of proton–proton collision data collected at √s = 7 TeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.98 fb⁻¹. The contributions from the dominant standard model backgrounds are estimated from data using two complementary strategies, the jet-Z balance technique and a method based on modeling E^miss_T with data control samples. In the absence of evidence for BSM physics, we set limits on the non-standard-model contributions to event yields in the signal regions and interpret the results in the context of simplified model spectra. Additional information is provided to facilitate tests of other BSM physics models.