ATLAS Z plus missing transverse energy excess in the MSSM

We demonstrate that the 3σ excess observed by ATLAS in the Z+MET channel can be explained within the context of the MSSM. Using the freedom inherent in the pMSSM, we perform a detailed analysis of the parameter space and find a scenario that describes the excess while simultaneously complying with all other search constraints from the Run I data at 7 and 8 TeV, including the Z+MET analysis by CMS. We generate a small sample of simplified models, using promising models from our existing pMSSM sample as seeds, and study their properties. The successful region is described by the production of 1st/2nd generation squark pairs, followed by their decay into a bino-like neutralino which in turn decays into a Higgsino-like LSP triplet by emitting a Z boson, i.e., q∼→B∼→h∼ with q∼=Q∼L, ͡R, or d∼R. The sweet spot for the sparticle spectrum is found to have squark masses in the 500-750 GeV range, with bino masses near 350 GeV with a mass splitting of 150-200 GeV with the Higgsino LSP. If this excess holds, then this scenario predicts that a signal will be observed in the 0l+jets and/or 1l+jets searches in the early operations of Run II.