WEAK-SCALE EFFECTIVE SUPERSYMMETRY

The idea of supersymmetry at the weak scale should be tested without regard to the Planck-scale origin of any specific model. A class of low-energy effective supersymmetric theories is derived from four assumptions: minimal field content, R-parity conservation, absence of quadratic divergences, and naturalness of near-flavor conservation. Current experiments are testing and constraining this wide class of supersymmetric models, and not just a specific N=1 supergravity model. © 1990 The American Physical Society.