Higgs boson masses in supersymmetric models

Imposing supersymmetry on a Higgs potential constrains the parameters that define the potential. In supersymmetric extensions to the stranded model containing only Higgs SU(2)L doublets there exist Higgs boson mass sum rules and bounds on the Higgs masses at tree level. The prescription for renormalizing these sum rules is derived. An explicit calculation is performed in the minimal supersymmetric extension to the standard model (MSSM). In this model at tree level the mass sum rule is MH2 + Mh2 = MA2 + MZ2. The results indicate that large corrections to the sum rules may arise from heavy matter fields, e.g. a heavy top quark. Squarks significantly heavier than their fermionic partners contribute large contributions when mixing occurs in the squark sector. These large corrections result from squark-Higgs couplings that become large in this limit. Contributions to individual Higgs boson masses that are quadratic in the squark masses cancel in the sum rule. Thus the naturalness constraint on Higgs boson masses is hidden in the combination of Higgs boson masses that comprise the sum rule. 39 refs., 13 figs