Bottom-up approach and supersymmetry breaking

We present a bottom-up approach to the question of supersymmetry breaking in the MSSM. Starting with the experimentally measurable low-energy supersymmetry-breaking parameters, which can take any values consistent with present experimental constraints, we evolve them up to an arbitrary high energy scale. Approximate analytical expressions for such an evolution, valid for low and moderate values of tan beta, are presented. We then discuss qualitative properties of the high-energy parameter space and, in particular, identify the conditions on the low-energy spectrum that are necessary for the parameters at the high-energy scale to satisfy simple regular pattern such as universality or partial universality. As an illustrative example, we take low-energy parameters for which light sparticles, within the reach of the LEP2 collider, appear in the spectrum, and which do not affect the Standard Model agreement with the precision measurement data. Comparison between supersymmetry breaking at the GUT scale and at a low-energy scale is made. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.