We show that, for a generic choice of a point on the Coulomb branch of any N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theory, it is possible to find a superpotential perturbation which generates a metastable vacuum at the point. For theories with SU (N ) gauge group, such a superpotential can be expressed as a sum of single-trace terms for N = 2 and 3. If the metastable point is chosen at the origin of the moduli space, we can show that the superpotential can be a single-trace operator for any N . In both cases, the superpotential is a polynomial of degree 3N of the vector multiplet scalar field.

We show that the perturbation of an N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theory by a superpotential linear in the Kähler normal coordinates of the Coulomb branch, discussed in arXiv:0704.3613, is equivalent to the perturbation by Fayet-Iliopoulos terms. It follows that the would-be metastable vacuum at the origin of the normal coordinates in fact preserves N = 1 supersymmetry unless the superpotential is truncated to a finite-degree polynomial of the adjoint scalar fields. We examine the criteria for supersymmetry breaking under a perturbation by Fayet-Iliopoulos terms and present a general classification of non-supersymmetric critical points. In some explicit examples, we are also able to study local stability of these points and demonstrate that, if the perturbation is chosen appropriately, they indeed correspond to supersymmetrybreaking vacua. Relations of these constructions to flux compactifications and geometric meta-stability are also discussed.1 See also [24,25] for meta-stable supersymmetry breaking vacua in Seiberg-Witten theories. 2 At nongeneric points there may be a flat direction (see [22]).

In the gauge mediation mechanism, the effects of the hidden sector are characterized by a set of correlation functions of the global symmetry current of the hidden sector. We present methods to compute these correlators in cases with strongly coupled hidden sectors. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the technique explicitly.1 For an earlier work for gauge mediation with strongly coupled hidden sector, see [2].