We conduct a general discussion of supersymmetric models with three families in the Higgs sector. We analyze the scalar potential and investigate the minima conditions, deriving the mass matrices for the scalar, pseudoscalar, and charged states. Depending on the Yukawa couplings and the Higgs spectrum, the model might allow the occurrence of potentially dangerous flavor-changing neutral currents at the tree level. We compute model-independent contributions for several observables, and as an example we apply this general analysis to a specific model of quark-Higgs interactions, discussing how compatibility with current experimental data constrains the Higgs sector.

• Received 29 December 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.73.055015