The spectrum of a class of supersymmetric theories with false vacua

The spectrum of a supersymmetric quantum mechanics model, whose potential has a steep supersymmetric minimum and a broad non-supersymmetric minimum, is analyzed. With the exception of the supersymmetric ground state, the low-energy spectrum is found to be determined entirely by the non-supersymmetric well. The model is motivated by effective lagrangians proposed for supersymmetric QCD. It is speculated that in an equivalent field theory exhibiting a supersymmetric true vacuum and a non-supersymmetric false vacuum, the false vacuum can play an important rôle in the physics, and that the lowest energy excitations are extended field configurations involving a new mass scale.     

Fluctuations in a supersymmetric inflationary universe

It has been demonstrated that fluctuations in the new inflationary universe may be almost scale-invariant, but are unfortunately too large. We show that supersymmetric inflationary models allow the fluctuations to be smaller. In a toy supersymmetric model, the perturbations are O(10⁻⁴) is the Yukawa interactions are O(10⁻⁶μ/m_p) where μ is the magnitude of the Higgs vacuum expectation value driving the inflation. It is therefore easier to have small fluctuations if inflation occurs close to the Planck epoch.     

Instanton calculus and the β function in supersymmetric yang-mills theories

We study recent arguments that the higher order quantum corrections to the vacuum energy in the presence of an instanton background field in supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories are zero. We conclude that these arguments are invalid. This is in spite of the fact that, with the use of the renormalisation group, they lead to the correct results for the coefficients in the β-function which are independent of the renormalisation scheme.     

Dynamical breaking of supersymmetry and positivity of vacuum energy density

The possibility of dynamical breaking of supersymmetry is investigated with special emphasis on the role of the positivity of the vacuum energy density. We point out that (i) the vacuum energy density can become negative after appropriate renormalization of the fields (thereby being energetically favorable over the supersymmetric case), yet (ii) in such a situation the Nambu-Goldstone fermion state must necessarily possess negative norm, the theory becoming physically unacceptable. This phenomenon is explicitly demonstrated using an O(N) symmetric Wess-Zumino type model in the large-N limit. We conclude that for dynamical breaking of supersymmetry to occur in a physically acceptable manner, it is necessary that supersymmetric solution(s) be completely destroyed. Our study suggests that a strong power-type infrared singularity might achieve such a situation.     

Supersymmetric extension of technicolor & fermion mass generation

We provide a complete extension of Minimal Walking Technicolor able to account for the Standard Model fermion masses. The model is supersymmetric at energies greater or equal to the technicolor compositeness scale. We integrate out, at the supersymmetry breaking scale, the elementary Higgses. We use the resulting four-fermion operators to derive the low energy effective theory. We then determine the associated tree-level vacuum and low energy spectrum properties. Furthermore we investigate the phenomenological viability of the model by comparing its predictions with electroweak precision tests and experimental bounds on the mass spectrum. We then turn to the composite Higgs phenomenology at the LHC and show that current data are already constraining the parameter space of the model.     

Type 1 2HDM as Effective Theory of Supersymmetry

It is generally believed that the low energy effective theory of the minimal supersymmetric standard model is the type 2 two Higgs doublet model. We will show that the type 1 two Higgs doublet model can also be as the effective of supersymmetry in a specific case with high scale supersymmetry breaking and gauge mediation. If the other electroweak doublet obtain the vacuum expectation value after the electroweak symmetry breaking, the Higgs spectrum is quite different. A remarkable feature is that the physical Higgs boson mass can be 125 GeV unlike in the ordinary models with high scale supersymmetry in which the Higgs mass is generally around 140 GeV.     

Type 1 2HDM as Effective Theory of Supersymmetry

It is generally believed that the low energy effective theory of the minimal supersymmetric standard model is the type 2 two Higgs doublet model.We will show that the type 1 two Higgs doublet model can also be as the effective of supersymmetry in a specific case with high scale supersymmetry breaking and gauge mediation.If the other electroweak doublet obtain the vacuum expectation value after the electroweak symmetry breaking,the Higgs spectrum is quite different.A remarkable feature is that the physical Higgs boson mass can be 125 GeV unlike in the ordinary models with high scale supersymmetry in which the Higgs mass is generally around 140 GeV.     

A Comment on the Light-Cone Vacuum in 1+1 Dimensional Super-Yang–Mills Theory

The discrete light-cone quantization (DLCQ) of a supersymmetric gauge theory in 1+1 dimensions is discussed, with particular attention given to the inclusion of the gauge zero mode. Interestingly, the notorious zero-mode problem is now tractable because of special supersymmetric cancellations. In particular, we show that anomalous zero-mode contributions to the currents are absent, in contrast to what is observed in the nonsupersymmetric case. An analysis of the vacuum structure is provided by deriving the effective quantum mechanical Hamiltonian of the gauge zero mode. It is shown that the inclusion of the zero modes of the adjoint scalars and fermions is crucial for probing the phase properties of the vacua. We find that the ground-state energy is zero and thus consistent with unbroken supersymmetry and conclude that the light-cone Fock vacuum is unchanged with or without the presence of matter fields.     

Space-Time Curvature Induced by Quantum Vacuum Fluctuations as an Alternative to Dark Energy

It is shown that quantum vacuum fluctuations give rise to a curvature of space-time of the order appropriate to explain the observed accelerated expansion of the universe. The fact that the fluctuations produce curvature, even if the expectation of the vacuum energy vanishes, is a consequence of the non-linear character of the Einstein equation. A calculation is made, involving plausible hypotheses within quantized gravity, which establishes a relation between the two-point correlation of the vacuum fluctuations and the space-time curvature.     

Stochastic field theory for a dirac particle propagating in gauge field disorder

Recent theoretical and numerical developments show analogies between quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and disordered systems in condensed matter physics. We study the spectral fluctuations of a Dirac particle propagating in a finite four-dimensional box in the presence of gauge fields. We construct a model which combines Efetov's approach to disordered systems with the principles of chiral symmetry and QCD. To this end, the gauge fields are replaced with a stochastic white-noise potential, the gauge field disorder. Effective supersymmetric nonlinear sigma models are obtained. Spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry is found. We rigorously derive the equivalent of the Thouless energy within our generic model implying the universality of this scale in QCD. Connections to other low energy effective theories, in particular, the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model and chiral perturbation theory, are found.     

Symmetry Breaking for Matter Coupled to Linearized Supergravity from the Perspective of the Current Supermultiplet

We consider a generic supersymmetric matter theory coupled to linearized supergravity, and analyze scenarios for spontaneous symmetry breaking in terms of vacuum expectation values of components of the current supermultiplet. When the vacuum expectation of the energy momentum tensor is zero, but the scalar current or pseudoscalar current gets an expectation, evaluation of the gravitino self energy using the supersymmetry current algebra shows that there is an induced gravitino mass term. The structure of this term generalizes the supergravity action with cosmological constant to theories with CP violation. When the vacuum expectation of the energy momentum tensor is nonzero, supersymmetry is broken; requiring cancellation of the cosmological constant gives the corresponding generalized gravitino mass formula.     

Supersymmetric QCD

We demonstrate the existence of a well-defined vacuum state in supersymmetric QCD with finite vacuum expectation values (VEVs) for scalars. Our results differ from those of several authors who find that a supersymmetric vacuum state exists only at infinite VEVs for the scalar fields. Our analysis is an application of previous results obtained using instantons in conjunction with the anomalous supersymmetry transformation laws found by Konishi.     

Local grand unification in the heterotic landscape

We consider the possibility that the unification of the electroweak interactions and the strong force arises from string theory, at energies significantly lower than the string scale. As a tool, an effective grand unified field theory in six dimensions is derived from an anisotropic orbifold compactification of the heterotic string. It is explicitly shown that all anomalies cancel in the model, though anomalous Abelian gauge symmetries are present locally at the boundary singularities. In the supersymmetric vacuum additional interactions arise from higher‐dimensional operators. We develop methods that relate the couplings of the effective theory to the location of the vacuum, and find that unbroken discrete symmetries play an important role for the phenomenology of orbifold models. An efficient algorithm for the calculation of the superpotential to arbitrary order is developed, based on symmetry arguments. We furthermore present a correspondence between bulk fields of the orbifold model in six dimensions, and the moduli fields that arise from compactifying four internal dimensions on a manifold with non‐trivial gauge background.     

Maxwell electrodynamics subjected to quantum vacuum fluctuations

The propagation of electromagnetic waves in the vacuum is considered taking into account quantum fluctuations in the limits of Maxwell-Langevin (ML) equations. For a model of “white noise” fluctuations, using ML equations, a second order partial differential equation is found which describes the quantum distribution of virtual particles in vacuum. It is proved that in order to satisfy observed facts, the Lamb Shift etc, the virtual particles should be quantized in unperturbed vacuum. It is shown that the quantized virtual particles in toto (approximately 86 percent) are condensed on the “ground state” energy level. It is proved that the extension of Maxwell electrodynamics with inclusion of the vacuum quantum field fluctuations may be constructed on a 6D space-time continuum with a 2D compactified subspace. Their influence on the refraction indexes of vacuum is studied.     

The cosmological constant and dark energy in braneworlds

We review recent attempts to address the cosmological constant problem and the late-time acceleration of the Universe based on braneworld models. In braneworld models, the way in which the vacuum energy gravitates in the 4D spacetime is radically different from conventional 4D physics. It is possible that the vacuum energy on a brane does not curve the 4D spacetime and only affects the geometry of the extra-dimensions, offering a solution to the cosmological constant problem. We review the idea of supersymmetric large extra dimensions that could achieve this and also provide a natural candidate for a quintessence field. We also review the attempts to explain the late-time accelerated expansion of the universe from the large-distance modification of gravity based on the braneworld. We use the Dvali–Gabadadze–Porrati model to demonstrate how one can distinguish this model from dark energy models in 4D general relativity. Theoretical difficulties in this approach are also addressed.     

Seiberg-Witten/Whitham Equations and Instanton Corrections in N=2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theory

We obtain the instanton correction recursion relations for the low energy effective prepotential in pure N=2 SU(n) supersymmetric Yang-Mills gauge theory from Whitham hierarchy and Seiberg-Witten/Whitham equations. These formulae provide us a powerful tool to calculate arbitrary order instanton corrections coefficients from the perturbative contributions of the effective prepotential in Seiberg-Witten gauge theory. We apply this idea to evaluate one- and two- order instanton corrections coefficients explicitly in SU(n) case in detail through the dynamical scale parameter expressed in terms of Riemann's theta-function.     

Spontaneous breaking of anti-de sitter supersymmetry

We compute the one-loop effective potential of the Wess-Zumino model in Anti-de Sitter space. The effect of the background geometry is determined exactly. After the renormalization of the kinetic action and the insertion of a linear counterterm in the superpotential, we solve the quantum-corrected equations of motion, obtaining the vacuum solutions in the semiclassical approximation. The vacuum expectation values of theA andB fields are shifted by finite terms which depend upon the boundary conditions for the field propagators. Despite this result, we show with complete generality that supersymmetry is preserved to the one-loop order at each classically supersymmetric extremum of the effective potential.     

Spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in 1N leading order

We present a supersymmetric model, with only chiral superfields, invariant under an internal O(N) global symmetry. We show that, to leading order in $\text{1}\text{N}$, an auxiliary scalar field acquires a non-vanishing vacuum expectation value, that is, supersymmetry is spontaneously broken to this order of the approximation.     

Vacuum alignment in supersymmetric gauge theories

The vacuum alignment problem is analyzed in the context of supersymmetric gauge theories with dynamical symmetry breaking. Three cases are distinguished, depending on whether the vacuum expectation value of the weak gauge current superfield in vacuum characterized by the orientation Ω is zero for all Ω, for some Ω, or for no Ω. In the first case, a non-renormalization theorem is proved to all orders in the weak coupling, showing that the usual criterion of minimizing the vacuum energy density is insufficient to determine the alignment, and possible resolutions of the problem are discussed. The second case is similar, except that the possible alignments are resricted to the range of Ω giving a vanishing VEV and the weak gauge group may then be broken non-minimally. In the third case, supersymmetry is itself broken at the tree level by the weak interactions. The supersymmetric generalization of the Schwinger mechanism for dynamical mass generation is described.     

SUSY breaking by nonperturbative dynamics in a matrix model for 2D type IIA superstrings

We explicitly compute nonperturbative effects in a supersymmetric double-well matrix model corresponding to two-dimensional type IIA superstring theory on a nontrivial Ramond–Ramond background. We analytically determine the full one-instanton contribution to the free energy and one-point function, including all perturbative fluctuations around the one-instanton background. The leading order two-instanton contribution is determined as well. We see that supersymmetry is spontaneously broken by instantons, and that the breaking persists after taking a double scaling limit which realizes the type IIA theory from the matrix model. The result implies that spontaneous supersymmetry breaking occurs by nonperturbative dynamics in the target space of the IIA theory. Furthermore, we numerically determine the full nonperturbative effects by recursive evaluation of orthogonal polynomials. The free energy of the matrix model appears well-defined and finite even in the strongly coupled limit of the corresponding type IIA theory. The result might suggest a weakly coupled theory appearing as an S-dual to the two-dimensional type IIA superstring theory.