Dynamical compactification as a mechanism of spontaneous supersymmetry breaking

Supersymmetry breaking and compactification of extra space-time dimensions may have a common dynamical origin if our Universe is spontaneously generated in the form of a four-dimensional topological or non-topological defect in higher-dimensional space-time. Within such an approach the conventional particles are zero-modes trapped in the core of the defect. In many cases solutions of this type spontaneously break all supersymmetries of the original theory, so that the low-energy observer from ''our'' Universe inside the core would not detect supersymmetry. Since the extra dimensions are not compact but, rather, inaccessible to low-energy observers, the usual infinite tower of the Kaluza-Klein excitations does not exist. Production of superpartners at the energy scale of SUSY restoration will be accompanied by four-momentum non-conservation. (Depending on the nature of the solution at hand, the non-conservation may either happen above some threshold energy or be continuous). In either case, the door to extra dimensions may be not very far from the energies accessible at present colliders. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.