Infrared Fixed Point Solution for the Top Quark Mass and Unification of Couplings in the MSSM

Abstract

We analyze the implications of the infrared quasi fixed point solution for the top quark mass in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. This solution could explain in a natural way the relatively large value of the top quark mass and, if confirmed experimentally, may be suggestive of the onset of nonperturbative physics at very high energy scales. In the framework of grand unification, the expected bottom quark - tau lepton Yukawa coupling unification is very sensitive to the fixed point structure of the top quark mass. For the presently allowed values of the electroweak parameters and the bottom quark mass, the Yukawa coupling unification implies that the top quark mass must be within ten percent of its fixed point values.