Low energy consequences of five-dimensional SO(10) Original Research Article

We consider five-dimensional (5D) supersymmetric SO(10) compactified on the orbifold S1/(Z2×Z2′) such that the SO(10) gauge symmetry is broken on both fixed points (branes), and the residual gauge symmetry is SU(3)c×SU(2)L×U(1)Y×U(1)X. We explore one example in which the gauge symmetries on the two branes are, respectively, SU(5)×U(1)X and SU(4)c×SU(2)L×SU(2)R, and the MSSM gauge symmetry is recovered by the usual Higgs mechanism. We discuss how fermion masses and mixings can be understood in this framework by introducing a flavor U(1)F symmetry. Unification of the MSSM gauge couplings and proton stability are also considered. An order of magnitude increase in sensitivity could reveal proton decay.