SUPERSYMMETRY BREAKING IN STRING MODELS AND A SOURCE OF HIERARCHY (I)

In a certain class of superstring models, supersymmetry is broken in a hidden sector but remains globally conserved in the observable sector of quarks and gluons. We recently identified the symmetry responsible for this property, a noncompact symmetry closely connected with space-time duality. This symmetry is broken by chiral and conformal anomalies, which provides the source of supersymmetry breaking in the observable sector and a possibly large hierarchy of scales. We give here details on our analysis, focussing on the identification of the anomalous terms which provide a source of breaking.