Light non-degenerate squarks at the LHC

Experimental bounds on squarks of the first two generations assume their masses to be eightfold degenerate, and consequently constrain them to be heavier than ∼ 1 . 4 TeV when the gluino is lighter than 2 . 5 TeV. The assumption of squark-mass universality is neither a direct consequence of Minimal Flavor Violation (MFV), which allows for splittings within squark generations, nor a prediction of supersymmetric alignment models, which allow for splittings between generations. We reinterpret a recent CMS multijet plus missing energy search allowing for deviations from U (2) universality, and find significantly weakened squark bounds: a 400 GeV second-generation squark singlet is allowed, even with exclusive decays to a massless neutralino; and in an MFV scenario, the down-type squark singlets can be as light as 600 GeV provided the up-type singlets are pushed up to 1 . 8 TeV, for a 1 . 5 TeV gluino and decoupled doublet squarks.