The Supersymmetric Universe

These lectures provide a phenomenological introduction to supersymmetry, concentrating on the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM). Motivations are provided for thinking that supersymmetry might appear at the TeV scale, including the naturalness of the mass hierarchy, gauge unification and the probable mass of the Higgs boson. Then simple globally supersymmetric field theories are introduced, with the emphasis on features important for model-building. Supersymmetry breaking and local supersymmetry (supergravity) are then introduced, and the structure of sparticle mass matrices and mixing are reviewed. The available experimental and cosmological constraints on MSSM parameters are discussed and combined, and the prospects for discovering supersymmetry in future experiments are previewed. Finally, the observability of leptonic processes violating flavour and CP are discussed, on the basis of the minimal supersymmetric seesaw model of neutrino masses.