Gauss-Bonnet black holes at the LHC: beyond the dimensionality of space

The Gauss-Bonnet invariant is one of the most promising candidates for a quadratic curvature correction to the Einstein action in expansions of supersymmetric string theory. We study the evaporation of such Schwarzschild-Gauss-Bonnet black holes which could be formed at future colliders if the Planck scale is of order of TeV, as predicted by some modern brane world models. We show that, beyond the dimensionality of space, the corresponding coupling constant could be measured by the LHC. This opens new windows for physics investigation in spite of the possible screening of microphysics due to the event horizon. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.