The Status of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and Beyond

Abstract

The minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) is reviewed. In the most general framework with minimal field content and R-parity conservation, the MSSM is a 124-parameter model (henceforth called MSSM-124). An acceptable phenomenology occurs only at exceptional points (and small perturbations around these points) of MSSM-124 parameter space. Among the topics addressed in this review are: gauge coupling unification, precision electroweak data, phenomenology of the MSSM Higgs sector, and supersymmetry searches at present and future colliders. The implications of approaches beyond the MSSM are briefly addressed.