Chiral models of weak scale supersymmetry

I discuss supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model containing an ext ra U(1)' gauge symmetry which provide a solution to the mu-problem and at t he same time protect the proton from decaying via dimension 4 operators. Mo reover, all fields are protected by chirality and supersymmetry from acquir ing high scale masses. The additional requirements of anomaly cancellation and gauge coupling unification imply the existence of extra matter multiple ts and that several fields participate in U(1)' symmetry breaking simultane ously. While there are several studies addressing subsets of these requirem ents, this work uncovers simultaneous solutions to all of them. It is surpr ising and encouraging that extending the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Mo del by a simple U(1) factor solves its major drawbacks with respect to the non-supersymmetric Standard Model, especially as current precision data see m to offer a hint to the existence of its corresponding Z' boson. It is als o remarkable that there are many solutions where the U(1)' charges of the k nown quarks and leptons are predicted to be identical to those Eg motivated Z' bosons which give the best ft to the data. I discuss the solutions to t hese constraints including some phenomenological implications. (C) 2000 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.