A kind of prediction from string phenomenology: extra matter at low energy

Understand

We review the possibility that the Supersymmetric Standard Model arises from orbifold constructions of the E_8 x E_8 Heterotic Superstring, and the phenomenological properties that such a model should have.

• In particular, trying to solve the discrepancy between the unification scale predicted by the Heterotic Superstring (g_{GUT}x5.27x10^{17} GeV) and the value deduced from LEP experiments (2x10^{16} GeV), we will predict the presence at low energies of three families of Higgses and vector-like colour triplets.
• Our approach relies on the Fayet-Iliopoulos breaking, and this is also a crucial ingredient, together with having three Higgs families, to obtain in these models an interesting pattern of fermion masses and mixing angles at the renormalizable lebel.
• Namely, after the gauge breaking some physical particles appear combined with other states, and the Yukawa couplings are modified in a well controlled way.