Supersymmetry Breaking Scale Research Articles

On the stability of open-string orbifold models with broken supersymmetry

We consider an open-string realisation of N=2→N=0 spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry in four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. It is based on type IIB orientifold theory compactified on T2×T4/Z2, with Scherk–Schwarz supersymmetry breaking implemented along T2. We show that in the regions of moduli space where the supersymmetry breaking scale is lower than the other scales, there exist configurations with minima that have massless Bose-Fermi degeneracy and hence vanishing one-loop effective potential, up to exponentially suppressed corrections. These backgrounds describe non-Abelian gauge theories, with all open-string moduli and blowing up modes of T4/Z2 stabilized, while all untwisted closed-string moduli remain flat directions. Other backgrounds with strictly positive effective potentials exist, where the only instabilities arising at one loop are associated with the supersymmetry breaking scale, which runs away. All of these backgrounds are consistent non-perturbatively.

Precision unification and Higgsino dark matter in GUT scale supersymmetry

Even if the concerns related to the naturalness of the electroweak scale are repressed, the Higgs mass and stability of the electroweak vacuum do not allow arbitrarily large supersymmetry breaking scale, $M_S$, in the minimal models with split or high-scale supersymmetry. We show that $M_S$ can be raised to the GUT scale if the theory below $M_S$ contains a Higgs doublet, a pair of TeV scale Higgsino and widely separated gauginos in addition to the Standard Model particles. The presence of wino and gluino below ${\cal O}(100)$ TeV leads to precision unification of the gauge couplings consistent with the current limits on the proton lifetime. Wino, at this scale, renders the Higgsino as pseudo-Dirac dark matter which in turn evades the existing constraints from the direct detection experiments. Bino mass scale is required to be $\gtrsim 10^{10}$ GeV to get the observed Higgs mass respecting the current limit on the charged Higgs mass. The framework predicts, $1 \lesssim \tan\beta \lesssim 2.2$ and $\tau[p\to e^+\, \pi^0] < 7 \times 10^{35}$ years, almost independent of values of the other parameters. The electroweak vacuum is found to be stable or metastable. The underlying framework provides an example of a viable sub-GUT scale theory of supersymmetric grand unified theory in which supersymmetry and unified gauge symmetry are broken at a common scale.

Sgoldstino signature in hh, W+W\u2212 and ZZ spectra at the LHC

In a supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model of particle physics (SM) with low scale of supersymmetry breaking, sgoldstino of (sub)TeV mass can be observed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as a peak in diboson mass spectra. Moreover, as a singlet with respect to the SM gauge group, scalar sgoldstino can mix with the SM-like Higgs boson and interfere in all neutral channels providing with the promising signatures of new physics if superpartners are heavy. Sgoldstino couplings to the SM particles are determined by the pattern of soft supersymmetry breaking parameters. Here we concentrate on the cases with a noticeable sgoldstino contribution to di-Higgs channel. Having found a phenomenologically viable region in the model parameter space where scalar sgoldstino, produced at the LHC in gluon fusion, decays into a pair of the lightest Higgs boson we give predictions for corresponding cross section. Using the results of the LHC searches for scalar resonances we place bounds on the supersymmetry breaking scale sqrt{F} in this region of parameter space. Remarkably, in this region sgoldstino may also be observed in W+W− and ZZ channels, yielding independent signatures, since their signal strengths are related to that of di-Higgs channel.

Predicting the Orbifold Origin of the MSSM

AbstractMSSM‐like string models from the compactification of the heterotic string on toroidal orbifolds (of the kind ) have distinct phenomenological properties, like the spectrum of vector‐like exotics, the scale of supersymmetry breaking, and the existence of non‐Abelian flavor symmetries. We show that these characteristics depend crucially on the choice of the underlying orbifold point group P. In detail, we use boosted decision trees to predict P from phenomenological properties of MSSM‐like orbifold models. As this works astonishingly well, we can utilize machine learning to predict the orbifold origin of the MSSM.

The upper bounds on supersymmetry breaking scales in split supersymmetry from the Higgs mass and electroweak vacuum stability

Abstract The null results of the LHC searches have put strong bounds on new physics scenarios such as supersymmetry (SUSY). With the latest values for the top quark mass and strong coupling, we study the upper bounds on the sfermion masses in split SUSY from the observed Higgs boson mass and electroweak (EW) vacuum stability. To be consistent with the observed Higgs mass, we find that the largest values of supersymmetry breaking scales $M_{S}$ for $\tan\beta=2$, $\tan\beta=4$, and $\tan\beta=50$ are $10^{6.2}$, $10^{4.5}$, and $10^{4.3}\, {\rm GeV}$, respectively. In particular, split SUSY with $\tan\beta \gtrsim 4$ can be probed in future 100 TeV proton–proton colliders such as FCC-hh and SppC. In addition, the Higgs quartic coupling becomes negative at about $10^{8.2}$, $10^{8.7}$, and $10^{9.6}\, {\rm GeV}$ respectively for $m_h =$ 123, 125, and 127 GeV from EW vacuum stability. These bounds are about one order smaller than the Standard Model due to the extra Higgs–Higgsino–gaugino couplings. We briefly comment on the lifetime of gluinos in our study and compare it with the current LHC observations. Additionally, we comment on the prospects of the discovery of prompt gluinos at the FCC-hh and SppC.

Heterotic − type I dual pairs, rigid branes and broken SUSY

The moduli space of toroidal type I vacua, which are consistent at the non-perturbative level, is composed of independent branches characterized by the number (0, 16 or 32) of rigid branes sitting on top of orientifold planes. This structure persists also when supersymmetry is spontaneously broken à la Scherk–Schwarz. We show that all the components of the moduli space in dimension D≥5 indeed admit heterotic dual components, by explicitly constructing heterotic-type I dual pairs with the rank of the gauge group reduced by 0, 8 or 16 units. In the presence of spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry, the dual pairs we consider are also free of tachyonic instabilities at the one-loop level, provided the scale of supersymmetry breaking is lower than the string scale.

Gravitino condensate in N = 1 supergravity coupled to the N = 1 supersymmetric Born–Infeld theory

Abstract The $N=1$ supersymmetric Born–Infeld theory coupled to $N=1$ supergravity in four spacetime dimensions is studied in the presence of a cosmological term with spontaneous supersymmetry breaking. The consistency is achieved by compensating a negative contribution to the cosmological term from the Born–Infeld theory by a positive contribution originating from the gravitino condensate. This leads to an identification of the Born–Infeld scale with the supersymmetry-breaking scale. The dynamical formation of the gravitino condensate in supergravity is reconsidered and the induced one-loop effective potential is derived. Slow-roll cosmological inflation with the gravitino condensate as the inflaton (near the maximum of the effective potential) is viable against the Planck 2018 data and can lead to the inflationary (Hubble) scale as high as $10^{12}$ GeV. Uplifting the Minkowski vacuum (after inflation) to a de Sitter vacuum (dark energy) is possible by the use of the alternative Fayet–Iliopoulos term. Some major physical consequences of our scenario for reheating are also briefly discussed.

Dynamics of revolving D-branes at short distances

We study the behavior of the effective potential between revolving Dp-branes at all ranges of the distance r, interpolating r » ls and r « ls (ls is the string length). Since the one-loop open string amplitude cannot be calculated exactly, we instead employ an efficient method of partial modular transformation. The method is to perform the modular transformation partially in the moduli parameter and rewrite the amplitude into a sum of contributions from both of the open and closed string massless modes. It is nevertheless free from the double counting and can approximate the open string amplitudes with less than 3% accuracy. From the D-brane effective field theory point of view, this amounts to calculating the one-loop threshold corrections of infinitely many open string massive modes. We show that threshold corrections to the ω2r2 term of the moduli field r cancel among them, where ω is the angular frequency of the revolution and sets the scale of supersymmetry breaking. This cancellation suggests a possibility to solve the hierarchy problem of the Higgs mass in high scale supersymmetry breaking models.

Superstring-inspired particle cosmology: inflation, neutrino masses, leptogenesis, dark matter & the SUSY scale

We develop a string-inspired model for particle cosmology, based on a flipped SU(5)×U(1) gauge group formulated in a no-scale supergravity framework. The model realizes Starobinsky-like inflation, which we assume to be followed by strong reheating, with the GUT symmetry being broken subsequently by a light `flaton' field whose decay generates a second stage of reheating. We discuss the production of gravitinos and the non-thermal contribution made by their decays to the density of cold dark matter, which is assumed to be provided by the lightest neutralino. We also discuss the masses of light and heavy neutrinos and leptogenesis. As discussed previously [1], a key rôle is played by a superpotential coupling between the inflaton, matter and GUT Higgs fields, called λ6. We scan over possible values of λ6, exploring the correlations between the possible values of observables. We emphasize that the release of entropy during the GUT transition allows large regions of supersymmetry-breaking parameter space that would otherwise lead to severe overdensity of dark matter. Furthermore, we find that the Big Bang nucleosynthesis lower limit on the reheating temperature of ∼ 1 MeV restricts the supersymmetry-breaking scale to a range \U0001d4aa(10) TeV that is consistent with the absence of supersymmetric particles at the LHC.

Search optimization, funnel topography, and dynamical criticality on the string landscape

A striking feature of our universe is its near criticality. The cosmological constant and weak hierarchy problems, as well as the metastability of the electroweak vacuum, can all be understood as problems of criticality. This suggests a statistical physics approach, based on the landscape of string theory. In this paper we present a dynamical selection mechanism for hospitable vacua based on search optimization. Instead of focusing on late-time, stationary probability distributions for the different vacua, we are interested in the approach to equilibrium. This is particularly relevant if cosmological evolution on the multiverse has occurred for a finite time much shorter than the exponentially-long mixing time for the landscape. We argue this imposes a strong selection pressure among hospitable vacua, favoring those that lie in regions where the search algorithm is efficient. Specifically, we show that the mean first passage time is minimized for hospitable vacua lying at the bottom of funnel-like regions, akin to the smooth folding funnels of naturally-occurring proteins and the convex loss functions of well-trained deep neural networks. The optimality criterion is time-reparametrization invariant and defined by two competing requirements: search efficiency, which requires minimizing the mean first passage time, and sweeping exploration, which requires that random walks are recurrent. Optimal landscape regions reach a compromise by lying at the critical boundary between recurrence and transience, thereby achieving dynamical criticality. Remarkably, this implies that the optimal lifetime of vacua coincides with the de Sitter Page time, τcrit ∼ MPl2/H3. Our mechanism makes concrete phenomenological predictions: 1. The expected lifetime of our universe is 10130 years, which is ≳ 2σ from the Standard Model metastability estimate; 2. The supersymmetry breaking scale should be high, ≳ 1010 GeV. The present framework suggests a correspondence between the near-criticality of our universe and non-equilibrium critical phenomena on the landscape.

Behaviors of two supersymmetry breaking scales in mathcal{N} = 2 supergravity

We study the supersymmetry breaking patterns in four-dimensional mathcal{N} = 2 gauged supergravity. The model contains multiple (Abelian) vector multiplets and a single hypermultiplet which parametrizes SO(4, 1)/SO(4) coset. We derive the expressions of two gravitino masses under general gaugings and prepotential based on the embedding tensor formalism, and discuss their behaviors in some concrete models. Then we confirm that in a single vector multiplet case, the partial breaking always occurs when the third derivative of the prepotential exists at the vacuum, which is consistent with the result of ref. [1], but we can have several breaking patterns otherwise. The discussion is also generalized to the case of multiple vector multiplets, and we found that the full ( mathcal{N} = 0) breaking occurs even if the third derivative of the prepotential is nontrivial.

Cosmology in the presence of multiple light moduli

The generic expectation in string/supergravity models is that there are multiple moduli fields with masses of the order of the supersymmetry breaking scale. We study the cosmology that arises as a result of vacuum misalignment of these moduli fields (in contrast to previous studies which mostly focussed on the single modulus case). We show that the dark radiation produced from the heavier moduli undergoes significant dilution. This happens even if there is a small splitting between the masses of the lightest and the heavier moduli. On the other hand, in the absence of fast annihilation processes decay of heavier moduli generically leads to overproduction of dark matter. We discuss a scenario where the problem can be addressed with a prompt dark matter annihilation to dark radiation. This can lead to realistic dark matter abundances, and the additional dark radiation produced as a result of this mechanism undergoes sufficient dilution as long as the annihilation is prompt.

Hagedorn-like transition at high supersymmetry breaking scale

We consider phase transitions occurring in four-dimensional heterotic orbifold models, when the scale of spontaneous breaking of mathcal{N} = 1 supersymmetry is of the order of the string scale. The super-Higgs mechanism is implemented by imposing distinct boundary conditions for bosons and fermions along an internal circle of radius R. Depending on the orbifold action, the usual scalars becoming tachyonic when R falls below the Hagedorn radius may or may not be projected out of the spectrum. In all cases, infinitely many other scalars, which are pure Kaluza-Klein or pure winding states along other internal directions, become tachyonic in subregions in moduli space. We derive the off-shell tree level effective potential that takes into account these potentially tachyonic modes. We show that when a combination of the usual tachyons survives the orbifold action, it is the only degree of freedom that actually condenses.

Interpolation of partial and full supersymmetry breakings in [formula omitted] supergravity

We discuss an N=2 supergravity model that interpolates the full and the partial supersymmetry breakings. In particular, we find the conditions for an N=0 Minkowski vacuum, which is continuously connected to the partial-breaking (N=1 preserving) one. The model contains multiple (Abelian) vector multiplets and a single hypermultiplet, and is constructed by employing the embedding tensor technique. We compute the mass spectrum on the Minkowski vacuum, and find some non-trivial mass relations among the massive fields. Our model allows us to choose the two supersymmetry-breaking scales independently, and to discuss the cascade supersymmetry breaking for the applications to particle phenomenology and cosmology.

A microscopic model for inflation from supersymmetry breaking

We have proposed recently a framework for inflation driven by supersymmetry breaking with the inflaton being a superpartner of the goldstino, that avoids the main problems of supergravity inflation, allowing for: naturally small slow-roll parameters, small field initial conditions, absence of a (pseudo)scalar companion of the inflaton, and a nearby minimum with tuneable cosmological constant. It contains a chiral multiplet charged under a gauged R-symmetry which is restored at the maximum of the scalar potential with a plateau where inflation takes place. The effective field theory relies on two phenomenological parameters corresponding to corrections to the Kähler potential up to second order around the origin. The first guarantees the maximum at the origin and the second allows the tuning of the vacuum energy between the F- and D-term contributions. Here, we provide a microscopic model leading to the required effective theory. It is a Fayet–Iliopoulos model with two charged chiral multiplets under a second mathrm{U}(1) R-symmetry coupled to supergravity. In the Brout–Englert–Higgs phase of this mathrm{U}(1), the gauge field becomes massive and can be integrated out in the limit of small supersymmetry breaking scale. In this work, we perform this integration and we show that there is a region of parameter space where the effective supergravity realises our proposal of small field inflation from supersymmetry breaking consistently with observations and with a minimum of tuneable energy that can describe the present phase of our Universe.

A minimal SU(5) SuperGUT in pure gravity mediation

The lack of evidence for low-scale supersymmetry suggests that the scale of supersymmetry breaking may be higher than originally anticipated. However, there remain many motivations for supersymmetry including gauge coupling unification and a stable dark matter candidate. Models like pure gravity mediation (PGM) evade LHC searches while still providing a good dark matter candidate and gauge coupling unification. Here, we study the effects of PGM if the input boundary conditions for soft supersymmetry breaking masses are pushed beyond the unification scale and higher dimensional operators are included. The added running beyond the unification scale opens up the parameter space by relaxing the constraints on tan beta . If higher dimensional operators involving the SU(5) adjoint Higgs are included, the mass of the heavy gauge bosons of SU(5) can be suppressed leading to proton decay, prightarrow pi ^0 e^+, that is within reach of future experiments. Higher dimensional operators involving the supersymmetry breaking field can generate additional contributions to the A- and B-terms of order m_{3/2}. The threshold effects involving these A- and B-terms significantly impact the masses of the gauginos and can lead to a bino LSP. In some regions of parameter space the bino can be degenerate with the wino or gluino and give an acceptable dark matter relic density.

Cosmological window onto the string axiverse and the supersymmetry breaking scale

In the simplest picture, the masses of string axions populating the axiverse depend on two parameters: the supersymmetry breaking scale $M_{\rm susy}$ and the action $S$ of the string instantons responsible for breaking the axion shift symmetry. In this work, we explore whether cosmological data can be used to probe these two parameters. Adopting string-inspired flat priors on $\log_{10}M_{\rm susy}$ and $S$, and imposing that $M_{\rm susy}$ be sub-Planckian, we find $S=198\pm28$. These bounds suggest that cosmological data complemented with string-inspired priors select a quite narrow axion mass range within the axiverse, $\log_{10}(m_a/{\rm eV}) = -21.5^{+1.3}_{-2.3}$. We find that $M_{\rm susy}$ remains unconstrained due to a fundamental parameter degeneracy with $S$. We explore the significant impact of other choices of priors on the results, and we comment on similar findings in recent previous literature.

Spontaneous dark-matter mass generation along cosmological attractors in string theory

We propose a new scenario for generating a relic density of non-relativistic dark matter in the context of heterotic string theory. Contrary to standard thermal freeze-out scenarios, dark-matter particles are abundantly produced while still relativistic, and then decouple from the thermal bath due to the sudden increase of their mass above the universe temperature. This mass variation is sourced by the condensation of an order-parameter modulus, which is triggered when the temperature T (t) drops below the supersymmetry breaking scale M (t), which are both time-dependent. A cosmological attractor mechanism forces this phase transition to take place, in an explicit class of heterotic string models with spontaneously broken supersymmetry, and at finite temperature.

Search for squarks and gluinos in final states with hadronically decaying τ -leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum using pp collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry in events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least one hadronically decaying $\tau$-lepton is presented. Two exclusive final states with either exactly one or at least two $\tau$-leptons are considered. The analysis is based on proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model expectation. At 95% confidence level, model-independent upper limits on the cross section are set and exclusion limits are provided for two signal scenarios: a simplified model of gluino pair production with $\tau$-rich cascade decays, and a model with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB). In the simplified model, gluino masses up to 2000 GeV are excluded for low values of the mass of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), while LSP masses up to 1000 GeV are excluded for gluino masses around 1400 GeV. In the GMSB model, values of the supersymmetry-breaking scale are excluded below 110 TeV for all values of $\tan\beta$ in the range $2 \leq \tan\beta \leq 60$, and below 120 TeV for $\tan\beta>30$.

Axions and anomalous U(1)’s

Inspired by recent studies of high-scale decay constant or flavorful QCD axions, we review and clarify their existence in effective string models with anomalous U(1) gauge groups. We find that such models, when coupled to charged scalars getting vacuum expectation values, always have one light axion, whose mass can only come from nonperturbative effects. If the main nonperturbative effect is from QCD, then it becomes a Peccei–Quinn axion candidate for solving the strong CP problem. We then study simple models with universal Green–Schwarz mechanism and only one charged scalar field: in the minimal gaugino condensation case the axion mass is tied to the supersymmetry breaking scale and cannot be light enough, but slightly refined models maintain a massless axion all the way down to the QCD scale. Both kinds of models can be extended to yield intermediate scale axion decay constants. Finally, we gauge flavorful axion models under an anomalous U(1) and discuss the axion couplings which arise.