Predicting the SUSY breaking scale in SUGRA models with degenerate vacua

TL;DR

This paper explores how the SUSY breaking scale in supergravity models with degenerate vacua influences the cosmological constant, estimating it to be between 20 TeV and 400 TeV based on RG flow analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a method to estimate the SUSY breaking scale from vacuum degeneracy and cosmological constant measurements in SUGRA models.

Findings

Measured cosmological constant can be explained with M_S between 20 TeV and 400 TeV.

Degenerate vacua assumption links SUSY breaking scale to dark energy density.

Predicted SUSY scale aligns with higgsino dark matter constraints.

Abstract

In N=1 supergravity the scalar potential may have supersymmetric (SUSY) and non-supersymmetric Minkowski vacua (associated with supersymmetric and physical phases) with vanishing energy density. In the supersymmetric Minkowski (second) phase some breakdown of SUSY may be induced by non-perturbative effects in the observable sector that give rise to a tiny positive vacuum energy density. Postulating the exact degeneracy of the physical and second vacua as well as assuming that at high energies the couplings in both phases are almost identical, one can estimate the dark energy density in these vacua. It is mostly determined by the SUSY breaking scale M_S in the physical phase. Exploring the two-loop renormalization group (RG) flow of couplings in these vacua we find that the measured value of the cosmological constant can be reproduced if M_S varies from 20 TeV to 400 TeV. We also argue that this prediction for the SUSY breaking scale is consistent with the upper bound on M_S in the higgsino dark matter scenario.