SModelS v1.2: Long-lived particles, combination of signal regions, and other novelties

SModelS is an automatized tool enabling the fast interpretation of simplified model results from the LHC within any model of new physics respecting a Z_2 symmetry. With the version 1.2 we announce several new features. First, previous versions were restricted to missing energy signatures and assumed prompt decays within each decay chain. SModelSv1.2 considers the lifetime of each Z_2-odd particle and appropriately takes into account missing energy, heavy stable charged particle and R-hadron signatures. Second, the current version allows for a combination of signal regions in efficiency map results whenever a covariance matrix is available from the experiment. This is an important step towards fully exploiting the constraining power of efficiency map results. Several other improvements increase the user-friendliness, such as the use of wildcards in the selection of experimental results, and a faster database which can be given as a URL. Finally, smodelsTools provides an interactive plots maker to conveniently visualize the results of a model scan.SModelS是一款自动化工具，可针对满足Z₂对称性（Z₂ symmetry）的任意新物理模型，快速解读大型强子对撞机（Large Hadron Collider，LHC）发布的简化模型结果。我们于1.2版本中推出了多项全新功能：其一，此前版本仅支持丢失能量特征分析，并默认每条衰变链内均发生瞬发衰变；SModelS 1.2版本则会考量每个Z₂奇粒子的寿命，并合理纳入丢失能量、重稳定带电粒子与R强子（R-hadron）三类特征的分析。其二，当前版本支持在实验提供协方差矩阵（covariance matrix）的前提下，对效率图（efficiency map）结果中的多个信号区域进行合并分析，这是充分挖掘效率图结果约束能力的关键一步。此外，多项其他优化提升了工具的易用性：例如在筛选实验结果时支持使用通配符，以及可通过统一资源定位符（URL）调用的高速数据库。最后，smodelsTools内置交互式绘图工具，可便捷可视化模型扫描的结果。