Uncertainties in Coupling Constant Unification

Abstract

The status of coupling constant unification in the standard model and its supersymmetric extension are discussed. Uncertainties associated with the input coupling constants, $m_t$, threshold corrections at the low and high scales, and possible nonrenormalizable operators are parametrized and estimated. A simple parametrization of a general supersymmetric new particle spectrum is given. It is shown that an effective scale $M_{SUSY}$ can be defined, but for a realistic spectrum it may differ considerably from the typical new particle masses. The implications of the lower (higher) values of ${\alpha }_s(M_Z)$ suggested by low-energy ($Z$-pole) experiments are discussed.

Comments: LaTex, 51 pages, 6 figures (available upon request), UPR-0513T