A low α_s: Hint of new physics at the GUT scale?

In a SUSY GUT having an extra reverse doublet-triplet splitting near the GUT scale, where the mass of an extra doublet is greater than the mass of an extra triplet by two orders of magnitude, a low prediction of $\alpha_s$ can be achieved through threshold corrections via the heavy scalars in the fundamental representations, making the prediction consistent with the values being suggested by low energy measurements. We implement this mechanism in a SUSY SU(5) GUT minimally extended to suppress Higgsino mediated proton decay. We also point out that as a consequence of this extension a natural scenario arises with a large hierarchy in Yukawa couplings ($ \lambda_t / \lambda_b \sim 40$). An experimental low value of $\alpha_s(m_Z)$ along with the non-observation of dimension-five proton decay modes at SuperKamiokande detector will favor such an extension of the SUSY SU(5) GUT over the minimal case.