Theory and Phenomenology of Sparticles: An Account of Four-Dimensional __N__=1 Supersymmetry in High Energy Physics

Supersymmetry or SUSY, one of the most beautiful recent ideas of physics, predicts sparticles existing as superpartners of particles. This book gives a theoretical and phenomenological account of sparticles. Starting from a basic level, it provides a comprehensive, pedagogical and user-friendly treatment of the subject of four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetry as well as its observational aspects in high energy physics and cosmology. Part One of the book introduces the requisite formal theory, preceded by a discussion of the naturalness problem. Part Two describes the supersymmetrization of the Standard Model of particle interactions as well as the origin of soft supersymmetry breaking and how it can be mediated from higher energies. Search strategies for sparticles, supersymmetric Higgs bosons, nonminimal scenarios and cosmological implications are some of the other topics covered. Novel features of the book include a dictionary between two-component and four-component spinor notation, a step-by-step derivation of the nonrenormalization theorem, an extended discussion of supersymmetric renormalization group evolution, detailed analyses of minimal and nonminimal models with gravity (including anomaly) mediated and gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking as well as elaborate self-contained presentations of collider signals of sparticles plus supersymmetric Higgs bosons and of supersymmetric cosmology. Appendices list all Feynman rules for the vertices of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. Ch. 1. Supersymmetry : why and how. 1.1. History and motivation. 1.2. Quadratic divergence and unnaturalness. 1.3. Naturalness, nonrenormalization, supersymmetry -- ch. 2. Preliminaries. 2.1. Grassmann elements and variables. 2.2. Supersymmetric harmonic oscillator. 2.3. Glimpse of superspace. 2.4. Supersymmetry and spacetime transformations -- ch. 3. Algebraic aspects. 3.1. Supersymmetry algebra. 3.2. Two component notation. 3.3. Particle supermultiplets -- ch. 4. Free superfields in superspace. 4.1. General superfield in superspace. 4.2. Chiral covariant derivatives. 4.3. Left and right chiral superfields. 4.4. Vector superfields. 4.5. Matter parity and R-parity -- ch. 5. Interacting superfields. 5.1. System of interacting chiral superfields. 5.2. Abelian gauge interactions. 5.3. Supersymmetric quantum electrodynamics (SQED). 5.4. Nonabelian gauge interactions. 5.5. Supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics (SQCD). 5.6. Supersymmetric chiral gauge theory (S[symbol]GT) -- ch. 6. Superspace perturbation theory and supergraphs. 6.1. Nonrenormalization of superpotential terms. 6.2. Functional methods in superspace. 6.3. Functional formulation of superfield theory. 6.4. GRS Feynman rules for the Wess-Zumino model. 6.5. Feynman rules for nonabelian supergauge theories. 6.6. Sample one loop supergraph calculations. 6.7. The nonrenormalization theorem. 6.8. One loop infinities and [symbol]-functions. 6.9. Renormalization group evolution -- ch. 7. General aspects of supersymmetry breaking. 7.1. Initial remarks. 7.2. Spontaneous supersymmetry breaking : some generalities. 7.3. The goldstino. 7.4. Model of F-type supersymmetry breaking. 7.5. Model of D-type supersymmetry breaking. 7.6. Dynamical model of supersymmetry breaking. 7.7. Soft explicit supersymmetry breaking. 7.8. The general mass sum rule -- ch. 8. Basic structure of the MSSM. 8.1. Brief review of the Standard Model. 8.2. Superfields of the MSSM. 8.3. Supersymmetric part of the MSSM. 8.4. Some non-Higgs vertices of the MSSM -- ch. 9. Soft supersymmetry breaking in the MSSM. 9.1. The content of [symbol]SOFT. 9.2. Electroweak gauginos and higgsinos. 9.3. Chargino and neutralino interactions with gauge bosons. 9.4. Masses and mixing patterns of sfermions. 9.5. The flavor problem in supersymmetry. 9.6. Interactions of sfermions with gauge bosons. 9.7. Fermion-sfermion-gaugino/higgsino interactions. 9.8. Quartic sfermion vertices -- ch. 10. Higgs bosons in the MSSM. 10.1. Higgs potential in the MSSM. 10.2. Spontaneous breakdown and VEVs. 10.3. Higgs masses at the tree level. 10.4. Higgs-particle vertices. 10.5. Higgs-sparticle vertices. 10.6. Radiative effects on MSSM Higgs particles -- ch. 11. Evolution from very high energies. 11.1. The need for a high scale. 11.2. The running of gauge couplings in the SM and the MSSM. 11.3. Derivation of the remaining RGE equations. 11.4. Application to the MSSM -- ch. 12. Gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking. 12.1. General remarks. 12.2. N=l supergravity broken in the hidden sector. 12.3. mSUGRA and its parameters. 12.4. Phenomenology with mSUGRA. 12.5. Beyond mSUGRA. 12.6. Quantum effects and extra dimensions. 12.7. Annex to Ch. 12 : A brief discussion of N=1 supergravity theory -- ch. 13. Gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking. 13.1. The basic ingredients. 13.2. The minimal model mGMSB. 13.3. Nonminimal messenger sector. 13.4. The [symbol] and B[symbol] problems. 13.5. Direct messenger-matter coupling. 13.6. Flavor symmetries for the GMSB scenario -- ch. 14. Beyond the MSSM. 14.1. Motivation and outline. 14.2. The next-to-the-minimal supersymmetric standard model. 14.3. Introduction to imparity violation. 14.4. Phenomenological limits on trilinear [symbol] couplings. 14.5. Bilinear [symbol] violation. 14.6. Neutrino masses in supersymmetric theories -- ch. 15. Supersymmetry at colliders. 15.1. Introduction. 15.2. Signals of charginos and neutralinos. 15.3. Signals of sleptons. 15.4. Signals of gluinos and squarks. 15.5. The quest for supersymmetric Higgs bosons. 15.6. Collider signals in the presence of [symbol] violation -- ch. 16. Supersymmetric cosmology. 16.1. Introductory comments. 16.2. Standard Big Bang cosmology. 16.3. Dark matter as a supersymmetric Big Bang relic. 16.4. Cosmology of the gravitino. 16.5. Baryogenesis -- ch. 17. Conclusion : wish list, roadmap and fine tuning Preface; Contents; Some Tips on Using This Book; MSSM Sparticles and Lower Mass Bounds; Acronyms and Abbreviations; Notation Conventions and Basic Superfield Definitions; INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW; Chapter 1. Supersymmetry: Why and How; 1.1 History and motivation; 1.2 Quadratic divergence and unnaturalness; 1.3 Naturalness nonrenormalization supersymmetry; References; PART ONE SUPERSYMMETRY FORMALISM; Chapter 2. Preliminaries; 2.1 Grassmann elements and variables; 2.2 Supersymmetric harmonic oscillator; 2.3 Glimpse of superspace; 2.4 Supersymmetry and spacetime transformations; References