Ripples in Spacetime from Broken Supersymmetry

TL;DR

This paper explores gravitational wave signals from first-order phase transitions in supersymmetry-breaking hidden sectors, revealing potential detectability by future interferometers and correlations with superpartner spectra.

Contribution

It introduces the study of GW signals from SUSY-breaking phase transitions, highlighting unique properties and their connection to superpartner spectra and collider prospects.

Findings

GW signals from SUSY-breaking sectors can be within future detector reach.

The GW frequency correlates with superpartner masses once mediation is specified.

Current bounds allow for detectable GW signals compatible with existing cosmological constraints.

Abstract

We initiate the study of gravitational wave (GW) signals from first-order phase transitions in supersymmetry-breaking hidden sectors. Such phase transitions often occur along a pseudo-flat direction universally related to supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking in hidden sectors that spontaneously break $R$-symmetry. The potential along this pseudo-flat direction imbues the phase transition with a number of novel properties, including a nucleation temperature well below the scale of heavy states (such that the temperature dependence is captured by the low-temperature expansion) and significant friction induced by the same heavy states as they pass through bubble walls. In low-energy SUSY-breaking hidden sectors, the frequency of the GW signal arising from such a phase transition is guaranteed to lie within the reach of future interferometers given existing cosmological constraints on the gravitino abundance. Once a mediation scheme is specified, the frequency of the GW peak correlates with the superpartner spectrum. Current bounds on supersymmetry are compatible with GW signals at future interferometers, while the observation of a GW signal from a SUSY-breaking hidden sector would imply superpartners within reach of future colliders.