Simple Models of Superconformal Flavor

Abstract

The observed hierarchy of fermion masses and mixings may be generated by renormalization group flow if the Standard Model is coupled to a near-conformal sector at high energies. If the conformal sector is supersymmetric, these effects are rendered calculable by a combination of superconformal symmetry and a-maximization. The viability of such models depends on whether they generate the observed fermion mass hierarchy before the Standard Model gauge couplings hit a Landau pole. Here we construct a variety of simple vector-like models of superconformal flavor, including both ten-centered and democratic variations. We discuss in detail the subtleties of applying the a-maximization procedure to determine anomalous dimensions of Standard Model fields. We find that a wide range of models based on SU(N) or Sp(2N) SQCD with fundamental and adjoint matter are viable theories of superconformal flavor.