Vacuum Geometry and the Search for New Physics

Abstract

We propose a new guiding principle for phenomenology: special geometry in the vacuum space. New algorithmic methods which efficiently compute geometric properties of the vacuum space of N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories are described. We illustrate the technique on subsectors of the MSSM. The fragility of geometric structure that we find in the moduli space motivates phenomenologically realistic deformations of the superpotential, while arguing against others. Special geometry in the vacuum may therefore signal the presence of string physics underlying the low-energy effective theory.