Search for long-lived particles decaying to final states that include dileptons

A search has been performed for long-lived particles, which decay to a final state that includes a pair of leptons ($e^+e^-$ or $\mu^+\mu^-$). The experimental signature is a distinctive topology consisting of a pair of charged leptons originating from a displaced secondary vertex. Events were collected by the CMS detector at the LHC during pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$~TeV, and selected from data samples corresponding to 19.6 (20.5)~fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity in the electron (muon) channel. No significant excess is observed above standard model expectations. Upper limits are set on such a signal, as a function of the long-lived particle lifetime, in the context of two specific models. In the first, Higgs bosons decay to a pair of long-lived neutral particles that each subsequently decay to dileptons. In the second, events contain a pair of squarks that each decay to a long-lived neutralinos, which then each decay to dileptons and a neutrino.