We replace ordinary chiral SU (3)L × SU (3)R perturbation theory χPT3 by a new theory χPTσ based on a low-energy expansion about an infrared fixed point α IR for 3-flavor QCD. At α IR , the quark condensate qq vac = 0 induces nine Nambu-Goldstone bosons: π, K, η and a 0 ++ QCD dilaton σ. Physically, σ appears as the f0(500) resonance, a pole at a complex mass with real part mK . The ∆I = 1/2 rule for nonleptonic K-decays is then a consequence of χPTσ, with a KSσ coupling fixed by data for K 0 S → γγ and γγ → ππ. We estimate RIR ≈ 5 for the nonperturbative Drell-Yan ratio R = σ(e + e − → hadrons)/σ(e + e − → µ + µ − ) at α IR .

We describe an extension to the SOFTSUSY program that provides for the calculation of the sparticle spectrum in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM), where a chiral superfield that is a singlet of the Standard Model gauge group is added to the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) fields. Often, a Z 3 symmetry is imposed upon the model. SOFTSUSY can calculate the spectrum in this case as well as the case where general Z 3 violating (denoted as \ Z 3 ) terms are added to the soft supersymmetry breaking terms and the superpotential. The user provides a theoretical boundary condition for the couplings and mass terms of the singlet. Radiative electroweak symmetry breaking data along with electroweak and CKM matrix data are used as weak-scale boundary conditions. The renormalisation group equations are solved numerically between the weak scale and a high energy scale using a nested iterative algorithm. This paper serves as a manual to the NMSSM mode of the program, detailing the approximations and conventions used.