Supersymmetric-particle production at pp¯ collider energies

The recently observed hadronic single- and multijet events accompanied by large missing p_T can be consistently explained by gluinos (g̃), produced via qq¯,gg→g̃ g̃ with an optimal mass of m_g̃=35 to 45 GeV. This result agrees surprisingly well with theoretical predictions of the minimal N=1 supergravity model. Adopting the theoretically somewhat less appealing alternative where scalar quarks (q̃) are lighter than gluinos such that they are dominantly produced via qq¯,gg→q̃ q̃, the events can also be explained by scalar quarks in a similar mass range. Currently available data, including the observed jet properties, cannot meaningfully distinguish between these two mechanisms. In addition we present detailed predictions for cross sections and distributions in 〈E_T〉, p_T^miss, p_T^jet, and invariant observed jet masses for gluino as well as scalar-quark production at present and forthcoming CERN pp¯ collider energies (√s =540 and 620 GeV). Realistic tests are suggested which would allow discrimination between gluinos and scalar quarks in the near future.