Little hierarchy in the minimally specified MSSM

We study constrained versions of the minimal supersymmetric model and investigate the hierarchy between the electroweak scale and the scale of superpartners that can be achieved without relying on specifying model parameters by more than one digit. This approach automatically avoids scenarios in which a large hierarchy is obtained by special choices of parameters and yet keeps scenarios that would be otherwise disfavored by various sensitivity measures. We consider models with universal gaugino and scalar masses, models with non-universal Higgs masses or non-universal gaugino masses and focus on scenarios in which all the model parameters are either of the same order or zero at the grand unification scale. We find that the maximal hierarchy between the electroweak scale and stop masses, requiring that model parameters are not specified beyond one digit, ranges from a factor of $\sim 10-30$ for the CMSSM up to $\sim 300$ for models with non-universal Higgs or gaugino masses.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, discussion expanded, matches published versio

Mass scale of vectorlike matter and superpartners from IR fixed point predictions of gauge and top Yukawa couplings

We use the IR fixed point predictions for gauge couplings and the top Yukawa coupling in the MSSM extended with vectorlike families to infer the scale of vectorlike matter and superpartners. We quote results for several extensions of the MSSM and present results in detail for the MSSM extended with one complete vectorlike family. We find that for a unified gauge coupling $\alpha_G > 0.3$ vectorlike matter or superpartners are expected within 1.7 TeV (2.5 TeV) based on all three gauge couplings being simultaneously within 1.5\% (5\%) from observed values. This range extends to about 4 TeV for $\alpha_G > 0.2$. We also find that in the scenario with two additional large Yukawa couplings of vectorlike quarks the IR fixed point value of the top Yukawa coupling independently points to a multi-TeV range for vectorlike matter and superpartners. Assuming a universal value for all large Yukawa couplings at the GUT scale, the measured top quark mass can be obtained from the IR fixed point for $\tan \beta \simeq 4$. The range expands to any $\tan \beta > 3$ for significant departures from the universality assumption. Considering that the Higgs boson mass also points to a multi-TeV range for superpartners in the MSSM, adding a complete vectorlike family at the same scale provides a compelling scenario where the values of gauge couplings and the top quark mass are understood as a consequence of the particle content of the model.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures, typos corrected, matches the published version. v4: Appendix correcte

Top-bottom-tau Yukawa coupling unification in the MSSM+1VF and fermion masses as IR fixed points

In the MSSM extended by a complete vectorlike family, precise top, bottom and tau Yukawa coupling unification can be achieved assuming SUSY threshold corrections which are typical for comparable superpartner masses. Furthermore, the unification is possible with a large unified coupling, implying that all three fermion masses can be simultaneously close to their IR fixed points. Assuming unified Yukawa couplings of order one or larger, the preferred common scale of new physics (superpartners and vectorlike matter) is in the 3 TeV to 30 TeV range, with larger couplings favoring smaller scales. Splitting superpartner masses from masses of vectorlike fields, the preferred scales extend in both directions. The multi-TeV scale for superpartners is compatible with and independently suggested by the Higgs boson mass.Comment: v2: matches published versio

Seven largest couplings of the standard model as IR fixed points

We report on an intriguing observation that the values of all the couplings in the standard model except those related to first two generations can be understood from the IR fixed point structure of renormalization group equations in the minimal supersymmetric model extended by one complete vectorlike family with the scale of new physics in a multi-TeV range.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, discussion added, matches published versio

Relic Challenges for Vector-Like Fermions as Connectors to a Dark Sector

New dark sectors consisting of exotic fields that couple only very feebly to the Standard Model (SM) have strong theoretical motivation and may be relevant to explaining the abundance of dark matter (DM). An important question for such sectors is how they connect to the SM. For a dark sector with a new gauge interaction, a natural connection arises from heavy vector-like fermions charged under both the visible and dark gauge groups. The gauge charges of such fermions imply that one or more of them is stable in the absence of additional sources of dark symmetry breaking. A generic challenge for such connectors is that they can produce too much dark matter or interact too strongly with nuclei if they were ever thermalized in the early universe. In this paper we study this challenge in a simple connector theory consisting of new vector-like electroweak doublet and singlet fermions that also transform under the fundamental representation of a new (Abelian) gauge force, and we show that these connectors in their minimal form are almost always ruled out by existing direct DM searches. To address this challenge, we investigate two solutions. First, we study mitigating scattering on nuclei by introducing a Majorana mass term for the singlet. And second, we investigate a mixing with SM leptons that allows the connectors to decay while remaining consistent with cosmological tests and searches for charged lepton flavor violation. Both solutions rely on the presence of a dark Higgs field with a specific charge.Comment: 32 pages, 5 figures, added references, corrected plotting error, conclusions unchange

Predictions for Muon Electric and Magnetic Dipole Moments from h→μ+μ−h \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^- in Two-Higgs-Doublet Models with New Leptons

We calculate chirally-enhanced corrections to the muon's electric and magnetic dipole moments in two-Higgs-doublet models extended by vectorlike leptons, and we explore a sharp correlation between $h \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-$ and the muon's dipole moments in these models. Among many detailed predictions, for a model with new leptons with the same quantum numbers as standard model leptons, we find that $0.39 \lesssim \tan \beta \lesssim 21$ necessarily requires a muon electric dipole moment to be observed at near-future experiments, assuming $h \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-$ is measured within $1\%$ of the standard model prediction for the current central value of the measured muon magnetic moment. In all studied models, the predicted values of the electric dipole moment can reach up to current experimental limits. Moreover, we show that in some models there can be two sources of chiral enhancement, parameterizing the correlation between $h \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-$ and the dipole moments by a complex number. This leads to sign-preferred predictions for the electric dipole moment.Comment: 26 pages + 25 pages of appendices, 9 figure