Problems with False Vacua in Supersymmetric Theories

Abstract

It has been suggested recently that in a consistent theory any Minkowski vacuum must be exactly stable. As a result, a large class of theories that in ordinary treatment would appear sufficiently long-lived, in reality make no sense. In particular, this applies to supersymmetric models in which global supersymmetry is broken in a false vacuum. We show that in any such theory the dynamics of supersymmetry breaking cannot be decoupled from the Planck scale physics. This finding poses an obvious challenge for the idea of low-scale metastable (for example gauge) mediation.Comment: 4 page