Expected Performance of the ATLAS Detector in GMSB Models with Tau Final States

Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking (GMSB) models provide a possible mechanism to mediate Supersymmetry to the visible sector. In these models the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is usually the gravitino, while the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) is either a neutralino or a slepton. In the case of a stau NLSP events with large missing transverse energy, highly energetic jets and up to four $\tau$ leptons are expected in $pp$-collisions at the LHC. A study of the expected performance of the ATLAS detector in GMSB scenarios with a stau NLSP for a LHC center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 10 TeV is presented. A cut-based selection has been optimised using a typical GMSB scenario and a scan of the GMSB parameter space has been performed to determine the discovery reach as a function of the integrated luminosity. In addition, the invariant mass distribution of two $\tau$ leptons has been used to study the measurement of masses of supersymmetric particles with larger event samples.