Reheating Metastable O'Raifeartaigh Models

TL;DR

The work analyzes how reheating and finite-temperature dynamics influence transitions between metastable SUSY-breaking vacua and true SUSY vacua in ISS-like and O'Raifeartaigh-type theories. By examining the finite-temperature effective potential and bubble nucleation rates, it shows that metastable SUSY-breaking vacua can be cosmologically robust in a broad class of models, with longevity controlled by actions like $S_4 \sim \left(\frac{\Lambda}{\mu}\right)^{\frac{4a}{2+a}}$ for $\mu \ll \Lambda$. It additionally discusses deformations such as the Kutasov model and gravitationally stabilized gauge mediation, highlighting both analogous longevity constraints and scenarios where thermalization or initial conditions may drive transitions to SUSY vacua. The results emphasize that the viability of metastable SUSY breaking in the early Universe hinges on the detailed vacuum structure, presence of light fields near the origin, and the thermal history set by reheating.

Abstract

In theories with multiple vacua, reheating to a temperature greater than the height of a barrier can stimulate transitions from a desirable metastable vacuum to a lower energy state. We discuss the constraints this places on various theories and demonstrate that in a class of supersymmetric models this transition does not occur even for arbitrarily high reheating temperature.

Figures (1)

• Figure 1: Cartoon of the potential in the meson direction, for temperatures at, above and below the critical temperature, $T_c^{susy}$, here $\eta_{\text{susy}}=\left(\mu^2\Lambda^a\right)^{\frac{1}{2+a}}$. Also plotted is the square approximation to the potential used for calculating the bounce action.