Fermion Masses and Mixing in SUSY Grand Unified Gauge Models with Extended Gut Gauge Groups

The authors discuss a class of supersymmetric (SUSY) grand unified gauge (GUT) models based on the GUT symmetry G x G or G x G x G, where G denotes the GUT group that has the Standard Model symmetry (SU(3)c x SU(2)L x U(1)Y) embedded as a subgroup. As motivated from string theory, these models are constructed without introducing any Higgs field of rani two or higher. Thus all the Higgs fields are in the fundamental representations of the extended GUT symmetry or, when G = SO(10), in the spinorial representation. These Higgs fields, when acquiring their vacuum expectation values, would break the extended GUT symmetry down to the Standard Model symmetry. In this dissertation, they argue that the features required of unified models, such as the Higgs doublet-triplet splitting, proton stability, and the hierarchy of fermion masses and mixing angles, could have natural explanations in the framework of the extended SUSY GUTs. Furthermore, they argue that the frameworks used previously to construct SO(10) GUT models using adjoint Higgs fields can naturally arise from the SO(10) x SO(10) and SO(10) x SO(10) x SO(10) models by integrating out heavy fermions. This observation thus suggests that the traditional SUSY GUT SO(10) theories can be viewed as the low energy effective theories generated by breaking the extended GUT symmetry down to the SO(10) symmetry