Supersymmetry breaking in M-theory and gaugino condensation

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We argue that supersymmetry breaking by gaugino condensation in the strongly coupled heterotic string can be described by an analogue of Scherk-Schwarz compactification on the eleventh dimension in M-theory. The M-theory scale is identified with the gauge coupling unification mass, whereas the radius of the eleventh dimension ρ is at an intermediate scale ρ⁻¹ 10¹² GeV. At the lowest order, supersymmetry is broken only in the gravitational and moduli sector at a scale m₃/₂ ρ⁻¹, while it is mediated by gravitational interactions to the observable world. Computation of the mass splittings yields in general a hierarchy of soft masses at the TeV scale (ρ⁻²/Mₚ) with matter scalars much heavier than gauginos.