τ polarization in SUSY cascade decays

tau leptons emitted in cascade decays of supersymmetric particles are polarized. The polarization may be exploited to determine spin and mixing properties of the neutralinos and stau particles involved. The sensitivity of the method is illustrated in comparison with predictions for models of universal extra space dimensions. Details of the analysis including experimental effects such as transverse momentum cuts are presented for tau -> pi decays, which can readily be generalized to other decay modes. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.