Supersymmetry for Alp Hikers

Abstract

These lectures provide a phenomenological introduction to supersymmetry, concentrating on the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM). In the first lecture, motivations are provided for thinking that supersymmetry might appear at the TeV scale, including the naturalness of the mass hierarchy, gauge unification and the probable mass of the Higgs boson. In the second lecture, simple globally supersymmetric field theories are introduced, with the emphasis on features important for model-building. Supersymmetry breaking and local supersymmetry (supergravity) are introduced in the third lecture, and the structure of sparticle mass matrices and mixing are reviewed. Finally, the available experimental and cosmological constraints on MSSM parameters are discussed and combined in the fourth lecture, and the prospects for discovering supersymmetry in future experiments are previewed.