Gluino NLSP, dark matter via gluino coannihilation, and LHC signatures

The possibility that the gluino is the next to the lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) is discussed and it is shown that this situation arises in nonuniversal supergravity models within a significant part of the parameter space compatible with all known experimental bounds. It is then shown that the gluino NLSP (GNLSP) models lead to a compressed sfermion spectrum with the sleptons often heavier than the squarks at least for the first two generations. The relic density here is governed by gluino coannihilation which is responsible for a relatively small mass splitting between the gluino and the neutralino masses. Thus the GNLSP class of models is very predictive first because the supersymmetry (SUSY) production cross sections at the CERN LHC are dominated by gluino production and second because the gluino production itself proceeds dominantly through a single channel which allows for a direct determination of the gluino mass and an indirect determination of the neutralino mass due to a linear relation between these two masses which is highly constrained by coannihilation. A detailed analysis of these models shows that the jet production and tagged b jets from the gluino production can be discriminated from the standard model background with appropriate cuts. It is found that the GNLSP models can be tested with just 10 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity and may therefore be checked with low luminosity runs in the first data at the LHC. Thus if a GNLSP model is realized, the LHC will turn into a gluino factory through a profuse production of gluinos with typically only a small fraction less than or similar to 5% of total SUSY events arising from other production modes over the allowed GNLSP model parameter space.