Sunday, 5 April 2015

LHC Supersymmetry

Q89: Before the end of 2016, will the LHC discover a new particle heavier than the Higgs Boson whose existence was predicted by supersymmetry?
Yes: 30%
(This question will resolve as yes if Scicast question 1289 resolves as yes before the end of 2016, although this is not a necessary condition.  A new particle whose existence has not been predicted by any variant of supersymmetry would not count)

The LHC has just restarted, after a 2 year upgrade.  There is speculation that it may discover a heavier "supersymmetric twin particle" in its latest run.  In the last run, the LHC did not find any supersymmetric particles, to the surprise of many.  

I do not think that any new particle will be discovered.  Although supersymmetry seems to have some theoretical appeal, the failure to find particles so far seems to be a serious blow.  Also, the time period of this question might not be long enough to discover a new particle.

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