A Layman's guide to SUSY GUTs

The determination of the most straightforward evidence for the existence of the Superworld requires a guide for non-experts (especially experimental physicists) for them to make their own judgement on the value of such predictions. For this purpose we review the most basic results of Super-Grand unification in a simple and clear way. We focus the attention on two specific models and their predictions. These two models represent an example of a direct comparison between a traditional unified-theory and a string-inspired approach to the solution of the many open problems of the Standard Model. We emphasize that viable models must satisfy {\em all} available experimental constraints and be as simple as theoretically possible. The two well defined supergravity models, $SU(5)$ and $SU(5)\times U(1)$, can be described in terms of only a few parameters (five and three respectively) instead of the more than twenty needed in the MSSM model, \ie, the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. A case of special interest is the strict no-scale $SU(5)\times U(1)$ supergravity where all predictions depend on only one parameter (plus the top-quark mass). A general consequence of these analyses is that supersymmetric particles can be at the verge of discovery, lurking around the corner at present and near future facilities. This review should help anyone distinguish between well motivated predictions and predictions based on arbitrary choices of parameters in undefined models.Comment: 25 pages, Latex, 11 figures (not included), CERN-TH.7077/93, CTP-TAMU-65/93. A complete ps file (1.31MB) with embedded figures is available by request from [email protected]

A supergravity explanation of the CDF eeγγee\gamma\gamma event

We present a unified no-scale supergravity model with a light gravitino that can naturally explain the observed $ee\gamma\gamma$ event at CDF via right-handed selectron pair-production. The full spectrum of our model can be described in terms of a single parameter and can be distinguished from alternative proposals in the literature. Ongoing and future runs at LEP 2 should be able to probe the full allowed parameter space via acoplanar diphoton events from $e^+e^-\to\chi^0_1\chi^0_1$ production.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures (included

Closing the Universe by relaxing the cosmological constant

We propose a string-inspired model which correlates several aspects of particle physics and cosmology. Inspired by the flat directions and the absence of adjoint Higgs representations found in typical string models, we consider a no-scale $SU(5)\times U(1)$ supergravity model. This model entails well determined low-energy phenomenology, such as the value of the neutralino dark matter relic abundance and a negative contribution to the vacuum energy. A positive contribution to the vacuum energy is also typically present in string theory as a consequence of the running of the fundamental constants towards their fixed point values. If these two contributions cancel appropriately, one may end up with a vacuum energy which brings many cosmological observations into better agreement with theoretical expectations. The present abundance of neutralinos would then be fixed. We delineate the regions of parameter space allowed in this scenario, and study the ensuing predictions for the sparticle and Higgs-boson masses in this model.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures (included), Latex, CTP-TAMU-06/9