On the smallness of the cosmological constant

TL;DR

This paper explores how degenerate vacua in supergravity models can naturally explain the tiny observed value of the cosmological constant through dynamical SUSY breaking mechanisms.

Contribution

It proposes a model with multiple degenerate Minkowski vacua in supergravity, linking gaugino condensation to the smallness of the cosmological constant and implications for Higgs physics.

Findings

The observed dark energy density can be explained by gaugino condensation near _{QCD} scale.

Presence of a third vacuum influences Higgs self-coupling at the Planck scale.

Degenerate vacua scenario provides a natural explanation for the small cosmological constant.

Abstract

In N=1 supergravity the scalar potential of the hidden sector may have degenerate supersymmetric (SUSY) and non-supersymmetric Minkowski vacua. In this case local SUSY in the second supersymmetric Minkowski phase can be broken dynamically. Assuming that such a second phase and the phase associated with the physical vacuum are exactly degenerate, we estimate the value of the cosmological constant. We argue that the observed value of the dark energy density can be reproduced if in the second vacuum local SUSY breaking is induced by gaugino condensation at a scale which is just slightly lower than \Lambda_{QCD} in the physical vacuum. The presence of a third degenerate vacuum, in which local SUSY and electroweak (EW) symmetry are broken near the Planck scale, may lead to small values of the quartic Higgs self--coupling and the corresponding beta function at the Planck scale in the phase in which we live.