Reanalysis of the mass difference B_d⁰-overline B_d⁰\ within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We present a detailed and complete calculation of the loop corrections to the mass difference $\Delta m_{B_d^0}/m_{B_d^0}$. We include charginos and scalar up quarks as well as gluinos and scalar down quarks on the relevant loop diagrams. We include the mixings of the charginos and of the scalar partners of the left and right handed quarks. We find that the gluino contribution to this quantity is important with respect to the chargino contribution only in a small part of phase space: mainly when the gluino mass is small ($\sim$ 100 GeV) and the symmetry-breaking parameter $m_S$ is below 300 GeV. This contribution is also important for very large values of $\tan\beta$ ($\sim$ 50) irrespective of the other parameters. Otherwise, the chargino contribution dominates vastly and can be roughly as large as that of the Standard Model. We also present the contribution of the charged Higgs to the mass difference $\Delta m_{B_d^0}/m_{B_d^0}$\ in the case $m_b\tan\beta\ll m_t\cot\beta$. This last contribution can be larger than the Standard Model contribution for small values of the Higgs mass and small values of $\tan\beta$.