The Scale of Supersymmetry Breaking and the Dark Dimension

We argue for a relation between the supersymmetry breaking scale and the measured value of the dark energy density Lambda. We derive it by combining two quantum gravity consistency swampland constraints, which tie the dark energy density Lambda and the gravitino mass M-3/2, respectively, to the mass scale of a light Kaluza-Klein tower and, therefore, to the UV cut-off of the effective theory. Whereas the constraint on Lambda has recently led to the Dark Dimension scenario, with a prediction of a single mesoscopic extra dimension of the micron size, we use the constraint on M-3/2 to infer the implications of such a scenario for the scale of supersymmetry breaking. We find that a natural scale for supersymmetry signatures is M = O (Lambda(1/8)) = O(TeV). This mass scale is within reach of LHC and of the next generation of hadron colliders. Finally, we discuss possible string theory and effective supergravity realizations of the Dark Dimension scenario with broken supersymmetry.

Automated summary

We argue that there is a relation between the supersymmetry breaking scale and the measured value of the dark energy density Lambda. This relation is derived by combining two quantum gravity consistency swampland constraints, which connect Lambda and the gravitino mass M-3/2 to the mass scale of a light Kaluza-Klein tower and the UV cut-off of the effective theory. The constraints on Lambda and M-3/2 lead to the Dark Dimension scenario and provide implications for the scale of supersymmetry breaking.