SUSY GUTs: A practical introduction

Abstract

An introduction to the most important concepts in the subject of supersymmetric unified theories is presented. The emphasis is on the practical aspects leading to state-of-the-art calculations in this renascent subject. The topics covered include: generalities of supersymmetric unified theories, gauge and Yukawa coupling unification including the most up-to-date numerical analyses, soft supersymmetry breaking, and radiative electroweak symmetry breaking enforced using the tree-level and one-loop effective potentials. This class of supersymmetric models can be described in terms of five parameters: the top-quark mass ($m_t$), the ratio of Higgs vacuum expectation values ($\tan \beta$), and three universal soft-supersymmetry-breaking parameters ($m_{1/2},m_0,A$). Thus, highly correlated predictions can be expected for all conceivable experimental observables. In effect, these general models provide a basic framework upon which more constrained models can be built.

CTP-TAMU-42/93, 32 pages, 12 figures (not included), Latex. Complete postscript file (uncompressed: 1.04MB, uuencoded:0.525MB) available from [email protected]. (Lecture presented at the Erice 93 Summer School.)