Naturally heavy scalars in supersymmetric grand unified theories

The supersymmetric flavor, CP and Polonyi problems are hints that the funda mental scale of the soft supersymmetry breaking parameters may be above a T eV, in apparent conflict with naturalness. We consider the possibility that multi-TeV scalar masses are generated by Planck- or unification-scale phys ics, and find the conditions under which the masses of scalars with large Y ukawa couplings are driven, radiatively and asymptotically, to the weak sca le through renormalization group evolution. Light third generation scalars then satisfy naturalness, while first and second generation scalars remain heavy to satisfy experimental constraints. We find that this mechanism is b eautifully realized in the context of grand unified theories. In particular , the existence of right-handed neutrinos plays an important role in allowi ng remarkably simple scenarios. For example, for SO(10) boundary conditions with the squared masses of Higgs scalars double those of sleptons and squa rks, we find that the entire scalar mass scale may be increased to 4 TeV at the unification scale without sacrificing naturalness. (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.