Gauge symmetry breaking in orbifold model building

We review the gauge symmetry breaking mechanism due to orbifold projections in orbifold model building. We explicitly show the existence of a scale of breaking if such a symmetry breaking is due to freely-acting orbifold operators only, i.e. in case the breaking is realized non-locally in the internal space. We show that such a scale is related to the compactification moduli only, and that there are no extra continuous parameters, at least in semirealistic models with N=1 SUSY in four dimensions. In this sense, the mechanism is peculiarly different from the standard Higgs (or Hosotani) symmetry breaking mechanism. We show that the mechanism also differs from that present in standard orbifold models where, even in presence of discrete Wilson lines, a scale of breaking is generically missing, since the breaking is localized in specific points in the internal space. We review a set of background geometries where the described non-local breaking is realized, both in the case of two and six extra dimensions. In the latter case, relevant in string model building, we consider both heterotic and open string compactifications.