Right-handed neutrinos as the origin of the electroweak scale

Abstract

The insular nature of the Standard Model may be explained if the Higgs mass parameter is only sensitive to quantum corrections from physical states. Starting from a scale-free electroweak sector at tree level, we postulate that quantum effects of heavy right-handed neutrinos induce a mass term for a scalar weak doublet that contains the dark matter particle. In turn, below the scale of heavy neutrinos, the dark matter sector sets the scale of the Higgs potential. We show that this framework can lead to a Higgs mass that respects physical naturalness, while also providing a viable scalar dark matter candidate, realistic light neutrino masses, and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe via thermal leptogenesis. The proposed scenario can remain perturbative and stable up to the Planck scale, thereby accommodating simple extensions to include a high-scale ($\ensuremath{\sim}2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1{0}^{16}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$) inflationary sector, implied by recent measurements. In that case, our model typically predicts that the dark matter scalar is close to 1 TeV in mass and could be accessible in near future direct detection experiments.