Supersymmetric Neutrino Masses, R Symmetries, and The Generalized mu Problem

Abstract

In supersymmetric models a tree-level neutrino mass could originate from the (weak-scale) superpotential. We propose and examine a realization of that idea, which arises naturally in the framework of a spontaneously broken U(1) R-symmetry. The solution to the neutrino mass problem could shed light in this framework on the possible resolution of the $\mu$ problem. Furthermore, the suppression of the neutrino mass in comparison to the weak scale arises dynamically and need not be encoded in the superpotential. The latter mechanism operates, for example, in universal models for the soft supersymmetry breaking terms. Phenomenological and cosmological implications of the model are also discussed, some of which are shown to hold more generally. We also note that future signatures could include observable enhancement of dijet and multijet production rates and a correlation between the supersymmetric and neutrino spectra.