Strongly Coupled Semi-Direct Mediation of Supersymmetry Breaking

Strongly coupled semi-direct gauge mediation models of supersymmetry breaking through massive mediators with standard model charges are investigated by means of composite degrees of freedom. Sizable mediation is realized to generate the standard model gaugino masses for a small mediator mass without breaking the standard model symmetries.Comment: 7 pages; v2: the model generalized, gaugino mass corrected; v3: explanations expanded, references adde

Moduli Space of Global Symmetry in N=1 Supersymmetric Theories and the Quasi-Nambu-Goldstone Bosons

We derive the moduli space for the global symmetry in N=1 supersymmetric theories. We show, at the generic points, it coincides with the space of quasi-Nambu-Goldstone (QNG) bosons, which appear besides the ordinary Nambu-Goldstone (NG) bosons when global symmetry G breaks down spontaneously to its subgroup H with preserving N=1 supersymmetry. At the singular points, most of the NG bosons change to the QNG bosons and the unbroken global symmetry is enhanced. The G-orbits parametrized by the NG bosons are the fibre at the moduli space and the singular points correspond to the point where H-orbit (in G-orbit) shrinks. We also show the low-energy effective Lagrangian is the arbitrary function of the orbit map.Comment: LaTex, 42 pages, 8 figures, final version to appear in Int.J.Mod.Phys.

Mediation of supersymmetry breaking in extra dimensions

We review the mechanisms of supersymmetry breaking mediation that occur in sequestered models, where the visible and the hidden sectors are separated by an extra dimension and communicate only via gravitational interactions. By locality, soft breaking terms are forbidden at the classical level and reliably computable within an effective field theory approach at the quantum level. We present a self-contained discussion of these radiative gravitational effects and the resulting pattern of soft masses, and give an overview of realistic model building based on this set-up. We consider both flat and warped extra dimensions, as well as the possibility that there be localized kinetic terms for the gravitational fields.Comment: LaTex, 15 pages; brief review prepared for MPLA. v2: minor correction

Supersymmetry-Breaking Loops from Analytic Continuation into Superspace

We extend to all orders in perturbation theory a method to calculate supersymmetry-breaking effects by analytic continuation of the renormalization group into superspace. A central observation is that the renormalized gauge coupling can be extended to a real vector superfield, thereby including soft breaking effects in the gauge sector. We explain the relation between this vector superfield coupling and the "holomorphic" gauge coupling, which is a chiral superfield running only at 1 loop. We consider these issues for a number of regulators, including dimensional reduction. With this method, the renormalization group equations for soft supersymmetry breaking terms are directly related to supersymmetric beta functions and anomalous dimensions to all orders in perturbation theory. However, the real power of the formalism lies in computing finite soft breaking effects corresponding to high-loop component calculations. We prove that the gaugino mass in gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking is ``screened'' from strong interactions in the messenger sector. We present the complete next-to-leading calculation of gaugino masses (2 loops) and sfermion masses (3 loops) in minimal gauge mediation, and several other calculations of phenomenological relevance.Comment: 50 pages, 1 ps and 1 eps figure, LaTe

Cosmological Simulations of Normal-Branch Braneworld Gravity

We introduce a cosmological model based on the normal branch of DGP braneworld gravity with a smooth dark energy component on the brane. The expansion history in this model is identical to LambdaCDM, thus evading all geometric constraints on the DGP cross-over scale r_c. This model can serve as a first approximation to more general braneworld models whose cosmological solutions have not been obtained yet. We study the formation of large scale structure in this model in the linear and non-linear regime using N-body simulations for different values of r_c. The simulations use the code presented in (F.S., arXiv:0905.0858) and solve the full non-linear equation for the brane-bending mode in conjunction with the usual gravitational dynamics. The brane-bending mode is attractive rather than repulsive in the DGP normal branch, hence the sign of the modified gravity effects is reversed compared to those presented in arXiv:0905.0858. We compare the simulation results with those of ordinary LambdaCDM simulations run using the same code and initial conditions. We find that the matter power spectrum in this model shows a characteristic enhancement peaking at k ~ 0.7 h/Mpc. We also find that the abundance of massive halos is significantly enhanced. Other results presented here include the density profiles of dark matter halos, and signatures of the brane-bending mode self-interactions (Vainshtein mechanism) in the simulations. Independently of the expansion history, these results can be used to place constraints on the DGP model and future generalizations through their effects on the growth of cosmological structure.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures; v2: minor changes; v3: references added; v4: added appendix on comparison with previous results; matches published version; v5: corrected Eqs. (2.4-2.5) and Fig. 1 following Ref. [28]; all following results unchange

Self-Consistent Cosmological Simulations of DGP Braneworld Gravity

We perform cosmological N-body simulations of the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati braneworld model, by solving the full non-linear equations of motion for the scalar degree of freedom in this model, the brane bending mode. While coupling universally to matter, the brane-bending mode has self-interactions that become important as soon as the density field becomes non-linear. These self-interactions lead to a suppression of the field in high-density environments, and restore gravity to General Relativity. The code uses a multi-grid relaxation scheme to solve the non-linear field equation in the quasi-static approximation. We perform simulations of a flat self-accelerating DGP model without cosmological constant. The results of the DGP simulations are compared with standard gravity simulations assuming the same expansion history, and with DGP simulations using the linearized equation for the brane bending mode. This allows us to isolate the effects of the non-linear self-couplings of the field which are noticeable already on quasi-linear scales. We present results on the matter power spectrum and the halo mass function, and discuss the behavior of the brane bending mode within cosmological structure formation. We find that, independently of CMB constraints, the self-accelerating DGP model is strongly constrained by current weak lensing and cluster abundance measurements.Comment: 21 pages; 10 figures. Revised version matching published versio

Metastable gravity on classical defects

We discuss the realization of metastable gravity on classical defects in infinite-volume extra dimensions. In dilatonic Einstein gravity, it is found that the existence of metastable gravity on the defect core requires violation of the Dominant Energy Condition for codimension Nc = 2 defects. This is illustrated with a detailed analysis of a six-dimensional hyperstring minimally coupled to dilaton gravity. We present the general conditions under which a codimension Nc > 2 defect admits metastable modes, and find that they differ from lower codimensional models in that, under certain conditions, they do not require violation of energy conditions to support quasi-localized gravity.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, uses RevTeX, typos corrected, matches published versio

Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking in Four Dimensions, Naturally

We present a simple four-dimensional model in which anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking naturally dominates. The central ingredient is that the hidden sector is near a strongly-coupled infrared fixed-point for several decades of energy below the Planck scale. Strong renormalization effects then sequester the hidden sector from the visible sector. Supersymmetry is broken dynamically and requires no small input parameters. The model provides a natural and economical explanation of the hierarchy between the supersymmetry-breaking scale and the Planck scale, while allowing anomaly mediation to address the phenomenological challenges posed by weak scale supersymmetry. In particular, flavor-changing neutral currents are naturally near their experimental limits.Comment: 14 pages, Late