Strong dynamics in a classically scale invariant extension of the standard model with a flat potential

Abstract

We investigate the scenario where the standard model is extended with classical scale invariance, which is broken by chiral symmetry breaking and confinement in a new strongly coupled gauge theory that resembles QCD. The standard model Higgs field emerges as a result of the mixing of a scalar meson in the new strong dynamics and a massless elementary scalar field. The mass and scalar decay constant of that scalar meson, which are generated dynamically in the new gauge theory, give rise to the Higgs field mass term, automatically possessing the correct negative sign by the bosonic seesaw mechanism. Using analogy with QCD, we evaluate the dynamical scale of the new gauge theory and further make quantitative predictions for light pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons associated with the spontaneous breaking of axial symmetry along chiral symmetry breaking in the new gauge theory. A prominent consequence of the scenario is that there should be a standard model gauge singlet pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson with mass below 220 GeV, which couples to two electroweak gauge bosons through the Wess-Zumino-Witten term, whose strength is thus determined by the dynamical scale of the new gauge theory. Other pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons, charged under the electroweak gauge groups, also appear. Concerning the theoretical aspects, it is shown that the scalar quartic coupling can vanish at the Planck scale with the top quark pole mass as large as 172.5 GeV, realizing the flatland scenario without being in tension with the current experimental data.