Fayet-Iliopoulos terms in 5D theories and their phenomenological implications

Supersymmetric theories in a 5D orbifold can have Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms on the boundaries. These terms induce a 5D mass for the bulk matter fields. We analyze this effect using N= 1 superfields and show how it can be understood as a mixing between the U(1) gauge boson and the graviphoton. We also study the implications of the FI terms in the mass spectrum of theories with Scherk-Schwarz supersymmetry breaking. We present a new 5D supersymmetric model that has the massless spectrum of the standard model and predicts a Higgs boson with a mass around the present experimental limit. © 2002 The American Physical Society.