Systematic Analysis of Frontier Energy Collider Data

Ignorance of the form new physics will take suggests the importance of systematically analyzing all data collected at the energy frontier, with the goal of maximizing the chance for discovery both before and after the turn on of the LHC. Which of the many possible extensions to the Standard Model should you spend your time trying to detect? The standard American technique for finding an answer to such a difficult question is to conduct a poll, since averaging over the responses of many uninformed people has been shown to produce useful insight. In this spirit, and in consultation with Gallup, a poll has been constructed for contemporary high energy physics. The first question of this poll is: 1. The first sign of new physics will come from (check one): Heavy gauge bosons Technicolor Large extra dimensions Leptoquarks Supersymmetry a fourth generation of fermions Compositeness Something else The result of this poll, averaging over the responses of several hundred professional physicists, is provided in the transparencies on which these proceedings are based. 1 As with most polls, the result of this one is not particularly informative, but it is nonetheless mildly interesting. Although none of the options wins the majority, supersymmetry carries the plurality. Assuming Nature, like most Western democracies, is governed by public opinion, she has presumably chosen to be supersymmetric. In the interest of elegance and bureaucratic efficiency, she has doubtlessly also chosen to be minimally supersymmetric. In this restrictive case, the second question of the poll is: 2. What are the values of the 105 parameters of the MSSM?