Gaugino

In particle physics, a gaugino is the hypothetical superpartner of a gauge boson, as predicted by gauge theory combined with supersymmetry. They are fermions.

In the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model the gauginos are

• gluino is the superpartner of the gluon, and hence carries colour charge.
• wino is the superpartner of the W boson.
• bino is the superpartner of the gauge boson corresponding to weak hypercharge. It mixes with one of the gauginos corresponding to weak isospin to give the photino and the zino.
• zino is the superpartner of the Z boson.
• photino is the superpartner of the photon.

In supergravity theories, the superpartner of a graviton is the gravitino.

Gauginos mix with higgsinos to form linear combinations ("mass eigenstates") called neutralinos (neutral) and charginos (charged). Since the lighest neutralino is stable, it is a WIMP and a candidate for dark matter.

For more on neutralinos and dark matter, see: G. Bertone, D. Hooper, J. Silk (2005). "Particle Dark Matter: Evidence, Candidates and Constraints". Physics Reports, vol. 405. pp. 279–390. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)