Anomaly mediation in supergravity theories

TL;DR

This paper shows that gaugino masses in supergravity can arise at one loop from anomaly-related quantum effects of the super-Weyl-Kähler and sigma-model symmetries. It provides a supersymmetric, nonlocal 1PI action describing these anomalies and derives a general formula for the anomaly-induced gaugino mass $m_{1/2}$ that depends on the gravitino mass, hidden-sector F-terms, and Kähler potential data. The work also demonstrates that high-energy physics, including Planck-scale or stringy counterterms, can modify or cancel the predicted mass, making the result UV-dependent unless the full ultraviolet completion is known. This highlights both a potential phenomenological signature of anomaly mediation and a fundamental ambiguity introduced by UV physics in predicting soft terms.

Abstract

We consider the effects of anomalies on the supersymmetry-breaking parameters in supergravity theories. We construct a supersymmetric expression for the anomaly-induced terms in the 1PI effective action; we use this result to compute the complete one-loop formula for the anomaly-induced gaugino mass. The mass receives contributions from the super-Weyl, Kahler, and sigma-model anomalies of the supergravity theory. We point out that the anomaly-mediated gaugino mass can be affected by local counterterms that cancel the super-Weyl-Kahler anomaly. This implies that the gaugino mass cannot be predicted unless the full high-energy theory is known.