Hans Peter Nilles, Saul Ramos-Sanchez, Patrick K. S. Vaudrevange
备注：
Plenary talk given at the 17th International Conference on Supersymmetry and the Unification of Fundamental Interactions (SUSY09), Northeastern University, Boston, 2009. To be published in the proceedings of the conference
The low energy effective action of string theory depends strongly on the process of compactification and the localization of fields in extra dimensions. Explicit string constructions towards the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) reveal interesting results leading to the concept of local grand unification. Properties of the MSSM indicate that we might live at a special location close to an orbifold fixed point rather than a generic point in Calabi-Yau moduli space. We observe an enhancement of (discrete) symmetries that have various implications for the properties of the MSSM such as proton stability as well as solutions to the flavor problem, the μ-problem and the strong CP-problem.
The construction of a supersymmetric $SO(10)$ grand unification with 5 left-handed and 2 right-handed families in the four-dimensional heterotic string theory is presented. The model has one $SO(10)$ adjoint Higgs field. The $SO(10)$ current algebra is realized at level 3.
This review is devoted to Anti-Grand Unification and to the Multiple Point Model solution of problems of the unification of gauge interactions. According to this model, near the Planck scale there exists a Multiple Critical Point (MCP), where vacua of all fields existing in nature are degenerate. The MCP rules over the evolution of all inverse finestructure constants in the Standard model and beyond it.
Use of the AdS/CFT correspondence to arrive at phenomenological gauge field theories is dicussed, focusing on the orbifolded case without supersymmetry. An abelian orbifold with the finite group $Z_{p}$ can give rise to a $G = SU(N)^p$ gauge group with chiral fermions and complex scalars in different bi-fundamental representations of $G$. The precision measurements at the $Z$ resonance suggest the values $p = 12$ and $N = 3$, and a unifications scale $M_U \sim 4$ TeV. Robustness and predictivity of such grand unification is discussed.
The SU(5) grand unified theory (GUT) is derived from the geometrical point of view of gauge theory on three-sheeted space-time, i.e., $M_4 \times Z_3$ manifold without recourse to noncommutative geometry. A derivation of SO(10) GUT is also discussed in the same point of view.
In a recent paper, by working in the orbifold GUT limit of the Heterotic string, we showed how one could accommodate gauge coupling unification in the "mini-landscape" models of Lebedev et al. Furthermore, it was shown how one of the solutions was consistent with the decoupling of other exotics with F=0. In this short addendum, we show that this solution is also consistent with D=0.
We examine the problem of constructing three generation free fermionic string models with grand unified gauge groups. We attempt the construction of $G\times G$ models, where $G$ is a grand unified group realized at level 1. This structure allows those Higgs representations to appear which are necessary to break the symmetry down to the standard model gauge group. For $G=SO(10)$, we find only models with an even number of generations. However, for $G=SU(5)$ we find a number of 3 generation models.
Recent developments about the construction of standard $SO(10)$ and $SU(5)$ grand unified theories from 4-dimensional superstrings are presented. Explicit techniques involving higher level affine Lie algebras, for obtaining such stringGUTs from symmetric orbifolds are discussed. Special emphasis is put on the different constraints and selection rules for model building in this string framework, trying to disentangle those which are generic from those depending on the orbifold construction proposed. Some phenomenological implications from such constraints are briefly discussed.
Generalized Yang-Mills theories have a covariant derivative that employs both scalar and vector bosons. Here we show how grand unified theories of the electroweak and strong interactions can be constructed with them. In particular the SU(5) GUT can be obtained from SU(6) with SU(5)xU(1) as a maximal subgroup. The choice of maximal subgroup also determines the chiral structure of the theory. The resulting Lagrangian has only two terms, and only two irreducible representations are needed, one for fermions and another for bosons.
We generalize the rules for the free fermionic string construction to include other asymmetric orbifolds with world-sheet bosons. We use these rules to construct various grand unified string models that involve level-3 current algebras. We present the explicit construction of three classes of 3-chiral-family grand unified models in the heterotic string theory. Each model has 5 left-handed, and two right-handed families, and an adjoint Higgs. Two of them are SO(10) and the third is E_6. With Wilson lines and/or varying moduli, we show how other 3-family grand unified models, such as SO(10) and …
We propose a new grand unification scenario for ensuring proton stability and triplet-doublet Higgs mass splitting with the help of topological symmetry and dynamics.
We review the construction of particle physics models in the framework of non-commutative geometry. We first give simple examples, and then progress to outline the Connes-Lott construction of the standard Weinberg-Salam model and our construction of the SO(10) model. We then discuss the analogue of the Einstein-Hilbert action and gravitational matter couplings. Finally we speculate on some experimental signatures of predictions specific to the non-commutative approach.
Grand gauge-Higgs unification of five dimensional SU(6) gauge theory on an orbifold $S^1/Z_2$ with localized gauge kinetic terms is discussed. The Standard model (SM) fermions on the boundaries and some massive bulk fermions coupling to the SM fermions on the boundary are introduced. Taking the power-law running contributions from the bulk fields into account, perturbative gauge coupling unification is shown to be realized at around $10^{14}$ GeV, which is a few order smaller than the unification scale of four dimensional grand unified theories.
$SO(11)$ gauge-Higgs grand unification is formulated in the six-dimensional hybrid warped space in which the fifth and sixth dimensions play as the electroweak and grand-unification dimensions. Fermions are introduced in ${\bf 32}$, ${\bf 11}$ and ${\bf 1}$ of $SO(11)$. Small neutrino masses naturally emerge as a result of a new seesaw mechanism in the gauge-Higgs unification which is characterized by a $3 \times 3$ mass matrix.
Various ideas support the notion that the GUT gauge group might be a semi-simple direct-product group such as $SU(5) \times SU(5)$. The doublet-triplet splitting problem can be solved with a direct product group. String theory suggests that the GUT scale is a modulus. Requiring this rules out a single SU(5) gauge group. A model with $SU(5) \times SU(5)$ gauge symmetry and the GUT scale as a modulus has been shown to exist. It is shown that extending these ideas to $SO(10) \times SO(10)$ cannot be done with the above requirement without unwanted massless modes at lower energy scales that spoil …
Proton hexality is a discrete symmetry that avoids the problem of too fast proton decay in the supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Unfortunately it is inconsistent with conventional grand unification. We show that proton hexality can be incorporated in the scheme of "Local Grand Unification" discussed in the framework of model building in (heterotic) string theory.
Gauge-Higgs grand unification is formulated. By extending $SO(5) \times U(1)_X$ gauge-Higgs electroweak unification, strong interactions are incorporated in $SO(11)$ gauge-Higgs unification in the Randall-Sundrum warped space. Quarks and leptons are contained in spinor and vector multiplets of $SO(11)$. Although the KK scale can be as low as $10 $ TeV, proton decay is forbidden by a conserved fermion number in the absence of Majorana masses of neutrinos.
We discuss family unification in grand unified theory (GUT) based on an $SU(19)$ GUT gauge group broken to its subgroups including a special subgroup. In the $SU(19)$ GUT on the six-dimensional (6D) orbifold space $M^4\times T^2/\mathbb{Z}_2$, three generations of the 4D SM Weyl fermions can be embedded into a 6D bulk Weyl fermions in an $SU(19)$ second-rank anti-symmetric tensor representation. 6D and 4D gauge anomalies can be canceled out by considering proper matter content without 4D exotic chiral fermions at low energies.
The possibility of achieving a gauge coupling grand unification by increasing the QCD degrees of freedom at higher energies is investigated. When confronted with precision low-energy data, the generic weak-mixing angle relation sin^2(theta_W) = N/2(N+1) requires N=7 colors at the GUT scale M_U ~ 10^17 GeV. With the exclusive addition of light Higgs doublets to the standard model particle content, such a unification may also occur if N=5 at M_U ~ 10^16 GeV.
It is shown how grand unification can occur in models which are partly supersymmetric. The particle states which are composite do not contribute to the running of gauge couplings above the compositeness scale, while the elementary states contribute the usual large logarithmns. This introduces a new differential running contribution to the gauge couplings from partly composite SU(5) matter multiplets. In particular, for partly supersymmetric models, the incomplete SU(5) elementary matter multiplets restore gauge coupling unification even though the usual elementary gaugino and Higgsino contribu…
In grand unified theories with large numbers of fields, renormalization effects significantly modify the scale at which quantum gravity becomes strong. This in turn can modify the boundary conditions for coupling constant unification, if higher dimensional operators induced by gravity are taken into consideration. We show that the generic size of these effects from gravity can be larger than the two-loop corrections typically considered in renormalization group analyses of unification. In some cases, gravitational effects of modest size can render unification impossible.
It is commonly believed that grand unified theories (GUTs) predict proton decay. This is because the exchange of extra GUT gauge bosons gives rise to dimension 6 proton decay operators. We show that there exists a class of GUTs in which these operators are absent. Many string and supergravity models in the literature belong to this class.
$SO(11)$ gauge-Higgs grand unification in the Randall-Sundrum warped space is proposed. Orbifold boundary conditions and one brane scalar field reduce $SO(11)$ to the standard model symmetry, which is further broken to $SU(3)_C \times U(1)_{EM}$ by the Hosotani mechanism. In a minimal model quarks and leptons are contained in a multiplet in ${\bf 32}$ of $SO(11)$ in each generation. Proton decay is naturally suppressed by a conserved fermion number.
In the standard model matter fields form complete representations of a grand unified group whereas Higgs fields belong to incomplete `split' multiplets. This remarkable fact is naturally explained by `local grand unification' in higher-dimensional extensions of the standard model. Here, the generations of matter fields are localized in regions of compact space which are endowed with a GUT gauge symmetry whereas the Higgs doublets are bulk fields. We realize local grand unification in the framework of orbifold compactifications of the heterotic string, and we present an example with SO(10) as a…
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.
The merging of the running couplings constants of the weak, strong, and electromagnetic fields does not require the unification of these gauge fields at high energy. It can, in fact, be the property of a general fermionic system in which gauge bosons are not fundamental.
Grand unified models in four dimensions typically suffer from the doublet-triplet splitting problem. This obstacle can be overcome in higher-dimensional settings, where a non-trivial gauge group topography can explain the simultaneous appearance of complete standard model generations in the form of 16-plets of SO(10) and the Higgs fields as split multiplets. In these notes, the emerging scheme of `local grand unification' and its realization in the context of orbifold compactifications of the heterotic string are reviewed.
In grand unified theories with large numbers of fields, renormalization effects significantly modify the scale at which quantum gravity becomes strong. This in turn can modify the boundary conditions for coupling constant unification, if higher dimensional operators induced by gravity are taken into consideration. We show that the generic size of, and the uncertainty in, these effects from gravity can be larger than the two-loop corrections typically considered in renormalization group analyses of unification. In some cases, gravitational effects of modest size can render unification impossibl…
We compute the beta-functions of the standard model formulated on a noncommutative spacetime. If we assume that the scale for spacetime noncommutativity is of the order of 2.2 \times 10^{15} GeV we find that the three gauge couplings of the standard model merge at a scale of 2.3 \times 10^{17} GeV. The proton lifetime is thus much longer than in conventional unification models.
Grand gauge-Higgs unification of five dimensional SU(6) gauge theory on an orbifold $S^1 / Z_2$ with localized gauge kinetic terms is discussed. The Standard model (SM) fermions on the boundaries and some massive bulk fermions coupling to the SM fermions are introduced. The number of the bulk fermions is reduced compared to the previous model, which reproduces the generation mixing of the SM fermions in addition to the SM fermion mass hierarchy by mild tuning the bulk masses and parameters of the localized gauge kinetic terms.
To solve the doublet-triplet splitting problem in SU(5) grand unified theories, we propose a four dimensional orbifold grand unified theory by acting Z2 on the SU(5) gauge group. Without an adjoint Higgs, the orbifold procedure breaks the SU(5) gauge symmetry down to the standard model gauge group, and removes the triplet component of the fundamental SU(5) Higgs. In the supersymmetric framework, we show that the orbifold procedure removes two triplet superfields of the Higgs multiplets and leaves us with the minimal supersymmetric standard model, which also solves the hierarchy problem and rea…
It has been recently pointed out by Arkani-Hamed and Dimopoulos that if the universe is a landscape of vacua, and if therefore fine-tuning is not a valid guidance principle for searching for physics beyond the standard model, supersymmetric unification only requires the fermionic superpartners. We argue that in that landscape scenario, the fermionic superpartners are not needed for unification, which can be achieved in SO(10) either via a direct breaking to the standard model at the grand unification scale or through an intermediate gauge symmetry. In most minimal SO(10) models, the proton lif…
We propose a new grand unification scenario for ensuring proton stability. Our scenario is based on the idea that the proton decay problem is an artificial one, which is caused from the identification of the gauge coupling unification scale with the grand unification scale or the grand unified symmetry breaking scale. We discuss a Lifshitz type gauge theory as a candidate to realize our scenario.
National Taiwan University（台湾大学）；National Center for Theoretical Sciences（国家理论科学中心）；Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo（东京大学 Kavli宇宙粒子与宇宙学前沿研究所（WPI））；Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Henan Normal University（河南师范大学）；Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University（京都大学汤川理论物理研究所）
We construct a simple model of an SU(5) GUT with gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking from a metastable vacuum of a hidden sector. All mass parameters and hierarchies of our model are generated dynamically from retrofitting. This includes the mu-parameter and the GUT scale. However, as typical for SU(5) GUTs, proton longevity remains a problem.
Using properties of Goldstino, we show that in generic grand unified theories with gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking the $μ$-problem is non-existent. What happens is that supersymmetry breaking universally induces the shifts of the heavy fields that generate $μ$ and $B_μ$ terms. In the leading order, these are given by the mass of gravitino and are insensitive to the scale of grand unification. The mechanism works regardless whether doublet-triplet splitting is achieved via fine-tuning or not. Moreover, we illustrate this general phenomenon on explicit examples of theories that achieve d…
Data on solar and atmospheric neutrinos provide evidence for neutrino masses and mixings. We review some basic neutrino properties, the status of neutrino oscillations and implications for grand unified theories, including leptogenesis.
We systematically study the unification of gauge couplings in the presence of (one or more) effective dimension-5 operators cHGG/4MPl, induced into the grand unified theory by gravitational interactions at the Planck scale MPl. These operators alter the usual condition for gauge coupling unification, which can, depending on the Higgs content H and vacuum expectation value, result in unification at scales MX significantly different than naively expected. We find non-supersymmetric models of SU(5) and SO(10) unification, with natural Wilson coefficients c, that easily satisfy the constraints fro…
We obtain a supersymmetric three family chiral SU(6) grand unification model with the global family symmetry SU(3)[family] from F-theory. This model has nice features such as all the fermion masses are reasonably generated and there results only one pair of Higgs doublets, realizing the doublet-triplet splitting from the family symmetry SU(3)[family]. The proton hexality is realized toward the proton stability problem. There is a room to fit the three gauge couplings using the F-theory flux idea and we obtain the proton lifetime in the 10^{36-37} yr region.
One of the drawbacks of conventional grand unification scenarios has been that the unification scale is too high to permit direct exploration. In this paper, we show that the unification scale can be significantly lowered (perhaps even to the TeV scale) through the appearance of extra spacetime dimensions. Such extra dimensions are a natural consequence of string theories with large-radius compactifications. We show that extra spacetime dimensions naturally lead to gauge coupling unification at intermediate mass scales, and moreover may provide a natural mechanism for explaining the fermion ma…
We discuss a grand unified theory (GUT) based on an $SO(32)$ GUT gauge group broken to its subgroups including a special subgroup. In the $SO(32)$ GUT on six-dimensional (6D) orbifold space $M^4\times T^2/\mathbb{Z}_2$, one generation of the SM fermions can be embedded into a 6D bulk Weyl fermion in the $SO(32)$ vector representation. We show that for a three generation model, all the 6D and 4D gauge anomalies in the bulk and on the fixed points are canceled out without exotic chiral fermions at low energies.
A possibility for grand unification and non-Higgs mass generation in a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio-like theory of fermions interacting with current metric field
The mass spectra of the standard model particles are reproduced in the $SO(11)$ gauge-Higgs grand unification in the six-dimensional warped space without introducing exotic light fermions. Light neutrino masses are explained by the gauge-Higgs seesaw mechanism. We evaluate the effective potential of the 4d Higgs boson appearing as a fluctuation mode of the Aharonov-Bohm phase $θ_H$ in the extra-dimensioal space, and show that the dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking takes place with the Higgs boson mass $m_H \sim 125\,$GeV and $θ_H \sim 0.1$. The Kaluza-Klein mass scale in the fifth dimensi…
We present a new grand unification paradigm, where gauge couplings do not need to be equal at any given scale, instead they run towards the same fixed point in the deep ultraviolet. We provide a concrete example based on SU(5) with a compactified extra space dimension. By construction, fermions are embedded in different SU(5) bulk fields, hence baryon number is conserved and proton decay is forbidden. The lightest Kaluza-Klein tier consists of stable states, providing an asymmetric Dark Matter candidate via their baryonic charges, with a mass of 2.4 TeV. The model features an interesting and p…
We consider Grand Unified Theories based on $SO(10)$ which originate from string/$M$ theory on $G_2$ manifolds or Calabi-Yau spaces with discrete symmetries. In this framework we are naturally led to a novel solution of the doublet-triplet splitting problem previously considered by Dvali which involves an extra vector-like Standard Model family and light, but weakly coupled colour triplets. These additional states are predicted to be accessible at the LHC and also induce R-parity violation. Gauge coupling unification occurs with a larger GUT coupling.
We analyze the running at one-loop of the gauge couplings in the spectral Pati-Salam model that was derived in the framework of noncommutative geometry. There are a few different scenario's for the scalar particle content which are determined by the precise form of the Dirac operator for the finite noncommutative space. We consider these different scenarios and establish for all of them unification of the Pati-Salam gauge couplings. The boundary conditions are set by the usual RG flow for the Standard Model couplings at an intermediate mass scale at which the Pati-Salam symmetry is broken.
Grand Unification of all forces has been a well motivated paradigm for particle physics. This subject has been recently revisited in the context of string theory, leading to a geometric reformulation of the idea of unification of forces. The interplay between geometry and physics has led to a natural resolution to a number of puzzles of particle physics utilizing the geometry of extra dimensions of string theory. Here we review aspects of these developments for a mathematical audience (based on talks given in honor of Yau's 60th, Atiyah's 80th and Singer's 85th birthdays).
If a grand-unified extension of the asymptotically safe Reuter fixed-point for quantum gravity exists, it determines free parameters of the grand-unified scalar potential. All quartic couplings take their fixed-point values in the trans-Planckian regime. They are irrelevant parameters that are, in principle, computable for a given particle content of the grand unified model. In turn, the direction of spontaneous breaking of the grand-unified gauge symmetry becomes predictable. For the flow of the couplings below the Planck mass, gauge and Yukawa interactions compete for the determination of th…
We discuss new-type grand unified theories based on grand unified groups broken to their special subgroups as well as their regular subgroups. In the framework, when we construct four-dimensional (4D) chiral gauge theories, i.e., the Standard Model (SM), 4D gauge anomaly cancellation restricts the minimal number of generations of the 4D SM Weyl fermions. We show that in a six-dimensional (6D) $SU(16)$ gauge theory on $M^4\times T^2/\mathbb{Z}_2$ one generation of the SM fermions can be embedded into a 6D bulk Weyl fermion. For the model including three chiral generations of the SM fermions, th…
We consider Grand Unified Theories based on $SO(10)$ which originate from $M$ theory on $G_2$ manifolds. In this framework we are naturally led to a novel solution of the doublet-triplet splitting problem involving an extra $\overline{\bf 16}_X+{\bf 16}_X$ vector-like pair by considering discrete symmetries of the extra dimensions and preserving unification. Since Wilson line breaking preserves the rank of the gauge group, the necessary $U(1)$ gauge breaking is generated from extra multiplets. The main prediction of the approach is the existence of light states with the quantum numbers of a $\…
We present a framework for grand unification in which the grand unified symmetry is broken spontaneously by strong gauge dynamics, and yet the physics at the unification scale is described by (weakly coupled) effective field theory. These theories are formulated, through the gauge/gravity correspondence, in truncated 5D warped spacetime with the UV and IR branes setting the Planck and unification scales, respectively. In most of these theories, the Higgs doublets arise as composite states of strong gauge dynamics, corresponding to degrees of freedom localized to the IR brane, and the observed …
Requiring that supersymmetric SU(5) and SU(6) grand unifications in the heterotic string theory must have 3 chiral families, adjoint (or higher representation) Higgs fields in the grand unifiedgauge group, and a non-abelian hidden sector, we construct such string models within the framework of conformal field theory and asymmetric orbifolds. Within this framework, we construct all such string models via Z_6 asymmetric orbifolds that include a Z_3 outer-automorphism, the latter yielding a level-3 current algebra for the grand unification gauge group SU(5) or SU(6). We then classify all such Z_6…
The development in the early eighties of supergravity grand unified models with gravity mediated breaking of supersymmetry, has led to a remarkable progress in the study of supersymmetry at colliders, in dark matter and in a variety of other experimental searches in the intervening years since that time. The purpose of this note is to review this development and describe our construction of this theory in the period 1982-85.
We present a minimal model of asymptotic grand unification based on an $SU(5)$ gauge theory in a compact $S^1/(\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}'_2)$ orbifold. The gauge couplings run to a unified fixed point in the UV, without supersymmetry. By construction, fermions are embedded in different $SU(5)$ bulk fields. As a consequence, baryon number is conserved, thus preventing proton decay, and the lightest Kaluza-Klein tier consists of new states that cannot decay into standard model ones. We show that the Yukawa couplings can be either in the bulk or localized, and run to an asymptotically free f…
We consider a minimal grand unified model where the dark matter arises from non-thermal decays of a messenger particle in the TeV range. The messenger particle compensates for the baryon asymmetry in the standard model and gives similar number densities to both the baryon and the dark matter. The non-thermal dark matter, if massive in the GeV range, could have a free-streaming scale in the order of 0.1 Mpc and potentially resolve the discrepancies between observations and the LCDM model on the small scale structure of the Universe. Moreover, a GeV scale dark matter naturally leads to the obser…
We exploit a recent advance in the study of topological superconductors to propose a solution to the family puzzle of particle physics in the context of SO(18) (or more correctly, Spin(18)) grand unification. We argue that Yukawa couplings of intermediate strength may allow the mirror matter and extra families to decouple at arbitrarily high energies. As was clear from the existing literature, we have to go beyond the Higgs mechanism in order to solve the family puzzle. A pattern of symmetry breaking which results in the SU(5) grand unified theory with horizontal or family symmetry USp(4) = Sp…
