Search for direct pair production of supersymmetric partners to the lepton in proton-proton collisions at

A search is presented for $$ slepton pairs produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 $$ . The search is carried out in events containing two $$ leptons in the final state, on the assumption that each $$ slepton decays primarily to a $$ lepton and a neutralino. Events are considered in which each $$ lepton decays to one or more hadrons and a neutrino, or in which one of the $$ leptons decays instead to an electron or a muon and two neutrinos. The data, collected with the CMS detector in 2016 and 2017, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 77.2 $$ . The observed data are consistent with the standard model background expectation. The results are used to set 95% confidence level upper limits on the cross section for $$ slepton pair production in various models for $$ slepton masses between 90 and 200 $$ and neutralino masses of 1, 10, and 20 $$ . In the case of purely left-handed $$ slepton production and decay to a $$ lepton and a neutralino with a mass of 1 $$ , the strongest limit is obtained for a $$ slepton mass of 125 $$ at a factor of 1.14 larger than the theoretical cross section.