In the

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

theory of

supersymmetry Supersymmetry is a Theory, theoretical framework in physics that suggests the existence of a symmetry between Particle physics, particles with integer Spin (physics), spin (''bosons'') and particles with half-integer spin (''fermions''). It propo ...

, a gluino (symbol ) is the hypothetical supersymmetric partner of a

gluon A gluon ( ) is a type of Massless particle, massless elementary particle that mediates the strong interaction between quarks, acting as the exchange particle for the interaction. Gluons are massless vector bosons, thereby having a Spin (physi ...

. In supersymmetric theories, gluinos are

Majorana fermion In particle physics a Majorana fermion (, uploaded 19 April 2013, retrieved 5 October 2014; and also based on the pronunciation of physicist's name.) or Majorana particle is a fermion that is its own antiparticle. They were hypothesised by E ...

s and interact via the

strong force In nuclear physics and particle physics, the strong interaction, also called the strong force or strong nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions. It confines quarks into protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles, an ...

as a color octet. Gluinos have a

lepton In particle physics, a lepton is an elementary particle of half-integer spin (Spin (physics), spin ) that does not undergo strong interactions. Two main classes of leptons exist: electric charge, charged leptons (also known as the electron-li ...

number 0,

baryon In particle physics, a baryon is a type of composite particle, composite subatomic particle that contains an odd number of valence quarks, conventionally three. proton, Protons and neutron, neutrons are examples of baryons; because baryons are ...

number 0, and

spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

1/2. Experimentally, gluinos have been one of the most promising SUSY particle candidates to be discovered since the production cross-section is the highest among SUSYs in the energy-frontier hadron colliders such as

Tevatron The Tevatron was a circular particle accelerator (active until 2011) in the United States, at the Fermilab, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (called ''Fermilab''), east of Batavia, Illinois, and was the highest energy particle collider unt ...

and the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, ...

(LHC). The experimental signatures are typically a pair-produced gluinos and their cascade decays. In models of supersymmetry that conserve R-parity, gluinos eventually decay into the undetected lightest super-symmetric particle with many quarks (looking as jets) and the standard model gauge bosons or Higgs bosons. In the R-parity violating scenarios, gluinos can either decay promptly into multiple jets, or be long-lived leaving anomalous sign of "displaced decay vertices" from the interaction point where they are generated. There has been no sign of gluinos observed so far. The strongest limit has been set by

LHC The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, and ...

(

ATLAS An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

/ CMS) where up to minimum 1 TeV and maximum 2 TeV in gluino mass has been excluded.

In Popular Culture

In the graphic novel ''

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...

'', chapter 1, page 23, Dr Manhattan mentions he is about to locate a gluino.

Footnotes

{{Authority control Fermions Hypothetical elementary particles