Gauge-mediated Supersymmetry Breaking Research Articles

The Fermi scale as a focus point of high-scale gauge mediation

Abstract We consider the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model with large scalar and gaugino mass terms at the GUT scale, which are generated predominantly by gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. For certain ratios of GUT-scale masses, determined by the messenger indices, large radiative corrections lead to a small electroweak scale in a way which resembles the well-known focus point mechanism. The Fermi scale, the gravitino mass and the higgsino masses are of comparable size. For a Higgs mass of about 124 GeV all other superparticles have masses outside the reach of the LHC.

Affleck-Dine dynamics and the dark sector of pangenesis

Pangenesis is the mechanism for jointly producing the visible and dark matter asymmetries via Affleck-Dine dynamics in a baryon-symmetric universe. The baryon-symmetric feature means that the dark asymmetry cancels the visible baryon asymmetry and thus enforces a tight relationship between the visible and dark matter number densities. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the general dynamics of this scenario in more detail and to construct specific models. After reviewing the simple symmetry structure that underpins all baryon-symmetric models, we turn to a detailed analysis of the required Affleck-Dine dynamics. Both gravity-mediated and gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking are considered, with the messenger scale left arbitrary in the latter, and the viable regions of parameter space are determined. In the gauge-mediated case where gravitinos are light and stable, the regime where they constitute a small fraction of the dark matter density is identified. We discuss the formation of Q-balls, and delineate various regimes in the parameter space of the Affleck-Dine potential with respect to their stability or lifetime and their decay modes. We outline the regions in which Q-ball formation and decay is consistent with successful pangenesis.Examples of viable dark sectors are presented, and constraints are derived from big bang nucleosynthesis, large scale structure formation and the Bullet cluster. Collider signatures and implications for direct dark matter detection experiments are briefly discussed. The following would constitute evidence for pangenesis: supersymmetry, GeV-scale dark matter mass(es) and a Z′ boson with a significant invisible width into the dark sector.

The minimal solution to the μ/B μ problem in gauge mediation

We provide a minimal solution to the mu/B_mu problem in the gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking by introducing a Standard Model singlet filed S with a mass around the messenger scale which couples to the Higgs and messenger fields. This singlet is nearly supersymmetric and acquires a relatively small Vacuum Expectation Value (VEV) from its radiatively generated tadpole term. Consequently, both mu and B_mu parameters receive the tree-level and one-loop contributions, which are comparable due to the small S VEV. Because there exists a proper cancellation in such two kinds of contributions to B_mu, we can have a viable Higgs sector for electroweak symmetry breaking.

Probing the seesaw and gauge mediation scales withBR(μ→eγ)and|Ue3|

The new MEG bound on BR(\mu\to e\gamma) provides the strongest upper bound on the scale of gauge mediation of supersymmetry breaking. If, in the future, this decay is observed by MEG, the mediation scale will become known to within one order of magnitude, and the seesaw scale will be constrained. In such a case, contributions from Planck mediated supersymmetry breaking are likely to be non-negligible, and an interpretation in terms of purely seesaw parameters will be impossible. The recent evidence for |U_{e3}|~0.15 further sharpens the predictions of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking.

Revealing the footprints of squark gluino production through Higgs search experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at 7 TeV and 14 TeV

The invariant mass distribution of the di-photons from the decay of the lighter scalar Higgs boson(h) to be carefully measured by dedicated h search experiments at the LHC may be distorted by the di-photons associated with the squark-gluino events with much larger cross sections in Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking (GMSB) models. This distortion if observed by the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at 7 TeV or 14 TeV, would disfavour not only the standard model but various two Higgs doublet models with comparable h - masses and couplings but without a sector consisting of new heavy particles decaying into photons. The minimal GMSB (mGMSB) model constrained by the mass bound on h from LEP and that on the lightest neutralino from the Tevatron, produce negligible effects. But in the currently popular general GMSB(GGMSB) models the tail of the above distribution may show statistically significant excess of events even in the early stages of the LHC experiments with integrated luminosity insufficient for the discovery of h. We illustrate the above points by introducing several benchmark points in various GMSB models - minimal as well as non-minimal. The same conclusion follows from a detailed parameter scan in a simplified GGMSB model recently employed by the CMS collaboration to interpret their searches in the di-photon + $\etslash$ channel. Other observables like the effective mass distribution of the di-photon + X events may also reveal the presence of new heavy particles beyond the Higgs sector. The contamination of the h mass peak and simple remedies are also discussed.

Search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum in [formula omitted] of 7 TeV proton–proton collision data with the ATLAS detector

A search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum has been performed using 1.07 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at s=7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. No excess of events was observed above the Standard Model prediction and 95% Confidence Level (CL) upper limits are set on the production cross section for new physics. The limits depend on each model parameter space and vary as follows: σ<(22–129) fb in the context of a generalised model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GGM) with a bino-like lightest neutralino, σ<(27–91) fb in the context of a minimal model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (SPS8), and σ<(15–27) fb in the context of a specific model with one universal extra dimension (UED). A 95% CL lower limit of 805 GeV, for bino masses above 50 GeV, is set on the GGM gluino mass. Lower limits of 145 TeV and 1.23 TeV are set on the SPS8 breaking scale Λ and on the UED compactification scale 1/R, respectively. These limits provide the most stringent tests of these models to date.

Prospects for Higgs boson searches with the tribottom channel in unified supersymmetric models

We investigate the prospects for the discovery of a neutral Higgs boson produced in association with a $b$ quark, followed by the Higgs decay into a pair of bottom quarks, $pp \to b\phi^0 \to b b\bar{b} +X$, at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) within the framework of unified supersymmetric models. The Higgs boson $\phi^0$ can be a heavy scalar $H^0$ or a pseudoscalar $A^0$. Furthermore, this direct discovery channel is compared with the indirect Higgs searches in the rare decay $B_s \to \mu^+\mu^-$ at hadron colliders. Promising results are found for the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) model, the anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB) model, and the gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB) model. We find that the indirect search for $B(B_s \to \mu^+\mu^-) \ge 5\times 10^{-9}$ is complementary to the direct search for $b\phi^0 \to bb\bar{b}$ with $\sqrt{s} = 14$ TeV and an integrated luminosity ($L$) of 300 fb$^{-1}$. In the AMSB and GMSB models, $b\phi^0 \to bb\bar{b}$ with $L = 300$ fb$^{-1}$ covers a larger area in the parameter space than $B(B_s \to \mu^+\mu^-) \ge 5\times 10^{-9}$. In addition, we present constraints from $b \to s\gamma$ and muon anomalous dipole moment ($\Delta a_\mu$) on the parameter space.

Possibility of generating leading-order gaugino masses in a direct gauge mediation scenario

Generating gaugino masses at the leading order has typically been difficult in direct/semi-direct gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking models. The Komargodski-Shih theorem has established that local stability of the supersymmetry breaking vacuum implies a vanishing leading order gaugino mass in generic renormalizable O'Raifeartaigh models. We relax the condition of renormalizability and investigate the possibility to evade the KS no-go theorem using higher dimensional operators in the Kahler potential and the superpotential. We demonstrate that higher dimensional terms which are polynomial in superfields are not adequate to evade the KS theorem. We narrow down on the possible class of non-polynomial corrections that can induce unsuppressed gaugino mass in a global supersymmetry breaking vacuum. We find that these models are tantalizingly close to the theories obtained from strongly coupled supersymmetry breaking schemes.

Higgs as a pseudo-Goldstone boson, the mu problem and gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking

We study the interplay between the spontaneous breaking of a global symmetry of the Higgs sector and gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, in the framework of a supersymmetric model with global SU(3) symmetry. In addition to solving the supersymmetric flavour problem and alleviating the little hierarchy problem, this scenario automatically triggers the breaking of the global symmetry and provides an elegant solution to the mu/Bmu problem of gauge mediation. We study in detail the processes of global symmetry and electroweak symmetry breaking, including the contributions of the top/stop and gauge-Higgs sectors to the one-loop effective potential of the pseudo-Goldstone Higgs boson. While the joint effect of supersymmetry and of the global symmetry allows in principle the electroweak symmetry to be broken with little fine-tuning, the simplest version of the model fails to bring the Higgs mass above the LEP bound due to a suppressed tree-level quartic coupling. To cure this problem, we consider the possibility of additional SU(3)-breaking contributions to the Higgs potential, which results in a moderate fine-tuning. The model predicts a rather low messenger scale, a small tan beta value, a light Higgs boson with Standard Model-like properties, and heavy higgsinos.

General gauge and anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking in grand unified theories with vector-like particles

In Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) from orbifold and various string constructions the generic vector-like particles do not need to form complete SU(5) or SO(10) representations. To realize them concretely, we present orbifold SU(5) models, orbifold SO(10) models where the gauge symmetry can be broken down to flipped SU(5) X U(1)_X or Pati-Salam SU(4)_C X SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R gauge symmetries, and F-theory SU(5) models. Interestingly, these vector-like particles can be at the TeV-scale so that the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass can be lifted, or play the messenger fields in the Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking (GMSB). Considering GMSB, ultraviolet insensitive Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking (AMSB), and the deflected AMSB, we study the general gaugino mass relations and their indices, which are valid from the GUT scale to the electroweak scale at one loop, in the SU(5) models, the flipped SU(5) X U(1)_X models, and the Pati-Salam SU(4)_C X SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R models. In the deflected AMSB, we also define the new indices for the gaugino mass relations, and calculate them as well. Using these gaugino mass relations and their indices, we may probe the messenger fields at intermediate scale in the GMSB and deflected AMSB, determine the supersymmetry breaking mediation mechanisms, and distinguish the four-dimensional GUTs, orbifold GUTs, and F-theory GUTs.

Search for diphoton events with large missing transverse energy with 36 pb−1 of 7 TeV proton–proton collision data with the ATLAS detector

Making use of 36 pb−1 of proton–proton collision data at \(\sqrt{s} =7\) TeV, the ATLAS Collaboration has performed a search for diphoton events with large missing transverse energy. Observing no excess of events above the Standard Model prediction, a 95% Confidence Level (CL) upper limit is set on the cross section for new physics of σ<0.38−0.65 pb in the context of a generalised model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GGM) with a bino-like lightest neutralino, and of σ<0.18−0.23 pb in the context of a specific model with one universal extra dimension (UED). A 95% CL lower limit of 560 GeV, for bino masses above 50 GeV, is set on the GGM gluino mass, while a lower limit of 1/R>961 GeV is set on the UED compactification radius R. These limits provide the most stringent tests of these models to date.

Light stop NLSPs at the Tevatron and LHC

How light can the stop be given current experimental constraints? Can it still be lighter than the top? In this paper, we study this and related questions in the context of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, where a stop NLSP decays into a W, b and gravitino. Focusing on the case of prompt decays, we simulate several existing Tevatron and LHC analyses that would be sensitive to this scenario, and find that they allow the stop to be a slight as150 GeV, mostly due to the large top production background. With more data, the existing LHC analyses will be able to push the limit up to at least 180 GeV. We hope this work will motivate more dedicated experimental searches for this simple scenario, in which, for most purposes, the only free parameters are the stop mass and lifetime.

Axion model in gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking and a solution to the μ/Bμ problem

We present a simple supersymmetric axion model that can naturally explain the origin of the Higgs mu and Bmu terms in gauge mediation while solving the strong CP problem. To stabilize the Peccei-Quinn scale, we consider mixing between the messenger fields that communicate the supersymmetry and Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking to the visible sector. Such mixing leads to the radiative stabilization of the Peccei-Quinn scale. In the model, a Higgs coupling to the axion superfield generates the B parameter at the soft mass scale while a small mu term is induced after the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking. We also explore the phenomenological and cosmological aspects of the model, which crucially depend on the saxion and axino interactions with the ordinary particles induced by the Higgs coupling to the axion superfield.

Light Higgsinos as heralds of higher-dimensional unification

Grand-unified models with extra dimensions at the GUT scale will typically contain exotic states with Standard Model charges and GUT-scale masses. They can act as messengers for gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. If the number of messengers is sizeable, soft terms for the visible sector fields will be predominantly generated by gauge mediation, while gravity mediation can induce a small mu parameter. We illustrate this hybrid mediation pattern with two examples, in which the superpartner spectrum contains light and near-degenerate higgsinos with masses below 200 GeV. The typical masses of all other superpartners are much larger, from at least 500 GeV up to several TeV. The lightest superparticle is the gravitino, which may be the dominant component of dark matter.

SUSY CP problem in gauge mediation model

SUSY CP problem in the gauge mediation supersymmetry breaking model is reconsidered. We pay particular attention to two sources of CP violating phases whose effects were not seriously studied before; one is the effect of the breaking of the GUT relation among the gaugino masses due to the field responsible for the GUT symmetry breaking, and the other is the supergravity effect on the supersymmetry breaking parameters, in particular, on the bi-linear supersymmetry breaking Higgs mass term. We show that both of them can induce too large electric dipole moments of electron, neutron, and so on, to be consistent with the experimental bounds.

Exploring singlet deflection of gauge mediation

We embed the next-to minimal supersymmetric standard model into gauge mediation of supersymmetry breaking and study the phenomenology of scenarios where the gauge-mediation contributions to soft parameters are deflected by superpotential interactions of the gauge singlet with the messenger fields and the Higgs doublets. This kind of models provides a satisfactory solution to the $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}{b}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ problem of gauge mediation, compatible with the adequate pattern of electroweak symmetry breaking and a realistic spectrum with supersymmetric partners at the TeV scale without requiring a significant fine tuning.

Theμproblem and the axion in gauge mediation

We revisit the idea of generating the Higgs mu parameter through a spontaneously broken Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry in gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking scenario. For the messenger scale of gauge mediation higher than the PQ scale, the setup naturally generates mu ~ m_soft and the Higgs soft parameter B \leq O(m_soft) with the CP phase of B aligned to the phase of gaugino masses, while giving the PQ scale v_PQ ~ \surd (m_soft {\Lambda}), where m_soft denote the gauge-mediated gaugino or sfermion masses and {\Lambda} is the cutoff scale which can be identified as the Planck scale or the GUT scale. The PQ sector of the model results in distinctive cosmology including a late thermal inflation. We discuss the issue of dark matter and baryogenesis in the resulting thermal inflation scenario, and find that a right amount of gravitino dark matter can be produced together with a successful Affleck-Dine leptogenesis, when the gravitino mass m_{3/2} = O(100) keV.

Gauge coupling unification in heterotic string models with gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking

We calculate the weak scale MSSM spectrum starting from a heterotic string theory compactified on an anisotropic orbifold. Supersymmetry breaking is mediated by vector-like exotics that arise naturally in heterotic string theories. The messengers that mediate SUSY breaking come in incomplete GUT multiplets and give rise to non-universal gaugino masses at the GUT scale. Models with non-universal gaugino masses at the GUT scale have the attractive feature of allowing for precision gauge coupling unification at the GUT scale with negligible contributions from threshold corrections near the unification scale. The unique features of the MSSM spectrum are light gluinos and also large mass differences between the lightest and the next-to-lightest neutralinos and charginos which could lead to interesting signatures at the colliders.

On messengers and metastability in gauge mediation

One notoriously difficult problem in perturbative gauge mediation of supersymmetry breaking via messenger fields is the generic presence of a phenomenologically unacceptable vacuum with messenger vevs, with a lower energy than the desired (“MSSM”) vacuum. We investigate the possibility that quantum corrections promote the latter to the ground state of the theory, and find that this is indeed feasible. For this to happen, the couplings of the messengers to the goldstino superfield must be small, and this implies an additional suppression of the MSSM soft terms with respect to the supersymmetry breaking scale. This in turn sets a lower limit on the masses of the messengers and of the supersymmetry breaking fields, which makes both sectors inaccessible at colliders. Contrary to other scenarios like direct gauge mediation, gaugino masses are unsuppressed with respect to scalar masses.

Gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking and string theory

We discuss the possibility of finding scenarios, within type IIB string theory compactified on Calabi-Yau orientifolds with fluxes, for realizing gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking. We find that while in principle such scenarios are not ruled out, in practice it is hard to get acceptable constructions, since typically, supersymmetry breaking cannot be separated from the stabilization of the light modulus.