The importance of tau leptons for supersymmetry searches at the Tevatron

Supersymmetry is perhaps most effectively probed at the Tevatron through production and decay of weak gauginos. Most of the analyses of weak gaugino observables require electrons or muons in the final state. However, it is possible that the gauginos will decay primarily to τ leptons, thus complicating the search for supersymmetry. The motivating reasons for high τ multiplicity final states are discussed in three approaches to supersymmetry model building: minimal supergravity, minimal gauge mediated supersymmetry, and more minimal supersymmetry. The concept of “e/μ/τ candidate” is introduced, and an observable with three e/μ/τ candidates is defined in analog to the trilepton observable. The maximum mass reach for supersymmetry is then estimated when gaugino decays to τ leptons have full branching fraction. Presented at the D0 New Phenomena Workshop, UC, Davis, 26-28 March 1998 Work supported by the Department of Energy under contract DE-AC03-76SF00515 and DE-FG-0587ER40319.