Collider signatures for new T-parity-odd quarks in little Higgs models

Little Higgs models with T Parity contain new vectorlike fermions, the T-odd quarks or “TOQ’s”, which can be produced at hadron colliders with a QCD-strength cross section. Events with two acoplanar jets and large missing transverse energy provide a simple signature of TOQ production. We show that searches for this signature with the Tevatron Run II data can probe a significant part of the Little Higgs model parameter space not accessible to previous experiments, exploring TOQ masses up to about 400 GeV. This reach covers parts of the parameter space where the lightest T-odd particle can account for the observed dark matter relic abundance. We also comment on the prospects for this search at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).