Strong-weak CP hierarchy from non-renormalization theorems

Abstract

We point out that the hierarchy between the measured values of the CKM phase and the strong CP phase has a natural origin in supersymmetry with spontaneous CP violation and low energy supersymmetry breaking. The underlying reason is simple and elegant: in supersymmetry the strong CP phase is protected by an exact non-renormalization theorem while the CKM phase is not. We present explicit examples of models which exploit this fact and discuss corrections to the non-renormalization theorem in the presence of supersymmetry breaking. This framework for solving the strong CP problem has generic predictions for the superpartner spectrum, for CP and flavor violation, and predicts a preferred range of values for electric dipole moments.