Theory-Motivated Benchmark Models and Superpartners at the Tevatron

Recently published benchmark models have contained rather heavy superpartners. To test the robustness of this result, several benchmark models have been constructed based on theoretically well-motivated approaches, particularly string-based ones. These include variations on anomaly and gauge-mediated models, as well as gravity mediation. The resulting spectra often have light gauginos that are produced in significant quantities at the Tevatron collider, or will be at a 500 GeV linear collider. The signatures also provide interesting challenges for the LHC. In addition, these models usually account for electroweak symmetry breaking with relatively less fine-tuning than previous benchmark models.