Fermion mass hierarchy based onN=8 supergravity

A possible mechanism is proposed to realize fermion mass hierarchy based on the superunification model of Ellis et al. In addition to the usual fermion (F)—Higgs (B) coupling, “non-renormalizable” interactions such as(1/(M _p ) ⁿ )(F) ² (B) ⁿ⁺¹ are introduced. It is assumed that three kinds of Higgs scalars respectively develop v.e.v. of orderM _P ,M _X andM _W , corresponding to the symmetry breaking pattern ofSU(8)→SU(5)→SU(3)×SU(3)×U(1)→SU(3)×U(1). As a result, fermions acquire their masses of orderM _w ,M _W (M _X /M _P) andM _W (M _X /M _P )². An example of the model is presented which shows nice feature of hierarchical mass patterns.