Beyond the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

Several topics from the subject of supersymmetric field theories are reviewed. We first present the structure of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. Next we discuss the issue of the doublet-triplet splitting problem in supersymmetric grand unified theories. We show some necessary conditions which a viable model has to satisfy and present three models which successfully solve the doublet-triplet splitting problem. We extend the simplest model to include fermion masses as well. Phenomenological consequences of this and other models are reviewed as well. The next topic to be reviewed is confinement in N = 1 supersymmetric gauge theories. We first summarize the low energy behavior of supersymmetric gauge theories and discuss the special case of SUSY QCD for different number of flavors. Then we present two necessary conditions for a theory to be "s-confining", which allows us to give a complete list of such theories based on a single gauge group. Finally we review the subject of dynamical supersymmetry breaking. We present the criteria for a model to break supersymmetry and discuss the method of Dine, Nelson, Nir and Shirman for finding new models of dynamical supersymmetry breaking. Using this method we find a large new class of models of dynamical supersymmetry breaking based on the gauge group SU(n) x SU(m) x U(1), and analyze these theories in detail. Thesis Supervisor: Lisa Randall Title: Associate Professor of Physics