Collider Implications of Universal Extra Dimensions

We consider the universal extra dimensions scenario of Appelquist, Cheng, and Dobrescu, in which all of the SM fields propagate into one extra compact dimension, estimated therein to be as large as $\sim (350$ GeV$)^{-1}$. Tree-level KK number conservation dictates that the associated KK excitations can not be singly produced. We calculate the cross sections for the direct production of KK excitations of the gluon, $\gs$, and two distinct towers of quarks, \qs and $\qt$, in proton-antiproton collisions at the Tevatron Run I and II energies in addition to proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider energy. The experimental signatures for these processes depend on the stability of the lowest-lying KK excitations of the gluons and light quarks. We find that the Tevatron Run I mass bound for KK quark and gluon final states is about 350--400 GeV, while Run II can push this up to 450--500 GeV at its initial luminosity and 500--550 GeV if the projected final luminosity is reached. The LHC can probe much further: The LHC will either discover UED KK excitations of quarks and gluons or extend the mass limit to about 3 TeV.