How Stueckelberg Extends the Standard Model and the MSSM

Abelian vector bosons can get massive through the Stueckelberg mechanism without spontaneous symmetry breaking via condensation of Higgs scalar fields. This appears very naturally in models derived from string theory and supergravity. The simplest scenarios of this type consist of extensions of the Standard Model (SM) or the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) by an extra U(1)_X gauge group with Stueckelberg type couplings. For the SM, the physical spectrum is extended by a massive neutral gauge boson Z' only, while the extension of the MSSM contains a CP-even neutral scalar and two extra neutralinos. The new gauge boson Z' can be very light compared to other models with U(1)' extensions. Among the new features of the Stueckelberg extension of the MSSM, the most striking is the possibility of a new lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) chi_{St}^0 which is mostly composed of Stueckelberg fermions. In this scenario the LSP of the MSSM chi_1^0 is unstable and decays into chi_{St}^0. Such decays alter the signatures of supersymmetry and have impact on searches for supersymmetry in accelerator experiments. Further, with R-parity invariance, chi_{St}^0 is the new candidate for dark matter.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure; contribution to the proceedings of PASCOS'0

Aspects of the Stueckelberg Extension

A detailed analysis of a Stueckelberg extension of the electro-weak gauge group with an extra U(1) factor is presented for the Standard Model as well as for the MSSM. The extra gauge boson gets massive through a Stueckelberg type coupling to a pseudo-scalar, instead of a Higgs effect. This new massive neutral gauge boson Z' has vector and axial vector couplings uniquely different from those of conventional extra abelian gauge bosons, such as appear e.g. in GUT models. The extended MSSM furthermore contains two extra neutralinos and one extra neutral CP-even scalar, the latter with a mass larger than that of the Z'. One interesting scenario that emerges is an LSP that is dominantly composed out of the new neutralinos, leading to a possible new superweak candidate for dark matter. We investigate signatures of the Stueckelberg extension at a linear collider and discuss techniques for the detection of the expected sharp Z' resonance. It turns out that the substantially modified forward-backward asymmetry around the Z' pole provides an important signal. Furthermore, we also elaborate on generalizations of the minimal Stueckelberg extension to an arbitrary number of extra U(1) gauge factors.Comment: 49 pages, 13 figures; to appear in JHE

Supersymmetric 4D Orientifolds of Type IIA with D6-branes at Angles

We study a certain class of four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric orientifolds for which the world-sheet parity transformation is combined with a complex conjugation in the compact directions. We investigate in detail the orientifolds of the Z_3, Z_4, Z_6 and Z_6' toroidal orbifolds finding solutions to the tadpole cancellation conditions for all models. Generically, all the massless spectra turn out to be non-chiral.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX, 6 figures; v2: slight modification of closed string spectr