The SUSY Higgs Mass: the Singlet Saves the Day

TL;DR

This paper introduces the S-MSSM, a generalized supersymmetric model that naturally raises the Higgs boson mass to 140 GeV without fine-tuning, addressing the little hierarchy problem.

Contribution

The S-MSSM incorporates an explicit mu-term and singlet mass, providing a viable alternative to the NMSSM that alleviates the little hierarchy problem without fine-tuning.

Findings

Higgs mass can reach 140 GeV with top squarks below 1 TeV

Model remains perturbative up to the gauge unification scale

No fine-tuning needed in the scalar potential

Abstract

We present a generalization of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM), with an explicit mu-term and a supersymmetric mass for the singlet superfield, as a route to alleviating the little hierarchy problem of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). Though this model does not address the mu-problem of the MSSM, we are able to generate masses for the lightest neutral Higgs boson up to 140 GeV with top squarks below the TeV scale, all couplings perturbative to the gauge unification scale, and with no need to fine tune parameters in the scalar potential. This model, which we call the S-MSSM, more closely resembles the MSSM phenomenologically than the NMSSM as usually defined.