Supersymmetry and Grand Unification

TL;DR

This paper reviews how supersymmetry and grand unification theories are promising extensions of the Standard Model, supported by experimental hints and embedded within string theory, highlighting their theoretical and phenomenological implications.

Contribution

It synthesizes recent developments linking supersymmetry, grand unification, and string theory, emphasizing new dualities and their implications for physics beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

Experimental support from Higgs boson properties and gauge coupling measurements.

Theoretical models constrain predictions for new physics.

String theory exhibits new dualities revealing unexpected simplicity.

Abstract

Supersymmetry and Grand Unification are the two most promising directions for physics beyond the Standard Model. They receive indirect experimental support from the apparent lightness of the Higgs boson, the values of the gauge couplings measured at LEP and elsewhere, and the persistent solar neutrino deficit. Phenomenological constraints and theoretical models constrain predictions in interesting ways. All these ideas may be embedded in string theory, which is shown by newly-discovered dualities to possess previously-unsuspected richness and simplicity.