Weak Scale Supersymmetry

Supersymmetric models of particle physics predict new superpartner matter states for each particle in the Standard Model. These superpartners will have wide ranging implications, from cosmology to observations at high energy accelerators, such as CERN's LHC. In this 2006 text, the authors develop the basic concepts of supersymmetry and show how it can be incorporated into a theoretical framework for describing unified theories of elementary particles. They develop the technical tools of supersymmetry using four-component spinor notation familiar to high energy experimentalists and phenomenologists. The text takes the reader from an abstract formalism to a straightforward recipe for writing supersymmetric gauge theories of particle physics, and ultimately to the calculations necessary for practical applications at colliders and in cosmology. This is a comprehensive, practical and accessible introduction to supersymmetry for experimental and phenomenological particle physicists and graduate students. Exercises and worked examples that clarify the material are interspersed throughout.

This OA text develops the basic concepts of supersymmetry for experimental and phenomenological particle physicists and graduate students.

This volume begins with an excellent pedagogical introduction to the physics and methods and formalism of supersymmetry which is accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of the Standard Model of particle physics. Next is an overview of open questions, followed by chapters on topics such as how to detect superpartners and tools for studying them, the current limits on superpartner masses as we enter the LHC era, the lightest superpartner as a dark matter candidate in thermal and non-thermal cosmological histories, and associated Z'physics. Most chapters have been extended and updated from the earlier edition and some are new. --

The book is a fairly non-technical introduction to modern supersymmetry phenomenology, approaching the subject in new and unique ways. It is suitable both for theorists and experimentalists, and emphasizes an intuitive grasp of the subject. Theoretical and experimental motivations, and the status and prospects of low-energy supersymmetry are discussed. It is shown by explicit construction that the stabilization of any perturbative theory which contains fundamental scalar bosons naturally leads to the notion of supersymmetry. The minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model is then pedagogically defined and its experimental status is summarized. Renormalization of the models, including unificaiton, is discussed and the linkage between high and low energies is demonstrated, providing a potential probe of Planck-scale physics, such as unified theories. Besides a host of other phenomena, Higgs physics is discussed and the Higgs mass is shown to provide a crucial test of nearly all supersymmetric theories.

Supersymmetry is at an exciting stage of development. It extends the Standard Model of particle physics into a more powerful theory that both explains more and allows more questions to be addressed. Most important, it opens a window for studying and testing fundamental theories at the Planck scale. Experimentally we are finally entering the intensity and energy regions where superpartners are likely to be detected, and then studied. There has been progress in understanding the remarkable physics implications of supersymmetry, including the derivation of the Higgs mechanism, the unification of the Standard Model forces, cosmological connections such as a candidate for the cold dark matter of the universe and the scalar fields that drive inflation and their potential, the relationship to Planck scale theories, and more.While there are a number of reviews and books where the mathematical structure and uses of supersymmetry can be learned, there are few where the particle physics is the main focus. This book fills that gap. It begins with an excellent pedagogical introduction to the physics and methods and formalism of supersymmetry, by S Martin, which is accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of the Standard Model of particle physics. Next is an overview of open questions by K Dienes and C Kolda, followed by chapters on topics ranging from how to detect superpartners to connections with Planck scale theories, by leading experts.This invaluable book will allow any interested physicist to understand the coming experimental and theoretical progress in supersymmetry, and will also help students and workers to quickly learn new aspects of supersymmetry they want to pursue.

The attempt to understand the nature of particle physics at the weak scale is the major goal of the current generation of collider facilities. Theorists attempt to stretch their theories to the Planck scale and beyond with the very ambitious theory of superstrings. Particle physics at all energy scales has important implications for the theory of the Early Universe. Lectures on Standard Model, Grand Unification and Supersymmetry and the present status of string and superstring theory are given by both theorists and experimentalists in a complete and pedagogical manner. Finally, lectures notes on the Early Universe, galaxy formation, and high energy colliders are directed specifically at particle physicists.