Split Supersymmetry - History

History

The initial attitude of some of the high energy physics community towards split supersymmetry was illustrated by a parody called supersplit supersymmetry. Often when a new notion in physics is proposed there is a knee-jerk backlash. When naturalness in the Higgs sector was initially proposed as a motivation for new physics, the notion was not taken seriously. After the supersymmetric Standard Model was proposed, Sheldon Glashow quipped that 'half of the particles have already been discovered.' After 25 years, the notion of naturalness had become so ingrained in the community that proposing a theory that did not use naturalness as the primary motivation was ridiculed. Split supersymmetry makes predictions that are distinct from both the Standard Model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and the ultimate nature of the naturalness in the Higgs sector will hopefully be determined at future colliders.

Many of the original proponents of naturalness no longer believe that it should be an exclusive constraint on new physics. Kenneth Wilson originally advocated for it, but has recently called it one of his biggest mistakes during his career. Steven Weinberg relaxed the notion of naturalness in the cosmological constant and argued for an environmental explanation for it in 1987. Leonard Susskind, who initially proposed technicolor, is a firm advocate of the notion of a landscape and non-naturalness. Savas Dimopoulos, who initially proposed the supersymmetric Standard Model, proposed split supersymmetry.