Coleman-Weinberg Mechanism Research Articles

Large solitons flattened by small quantum corrections

We propose a general form of the UV-completed Friedberg-Lee-Sirlin (FLS) model. As can be seen from the Newtonian mechanics interpretation, UV-completion allows thin-wall approximation for non-topological solitons. The 1-loop renormalized effective potential for the UV-completed FLS model is constructed under the assumption of mass hierarchy. By special choice of parameters, we studied how the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism induces a new mass scale ω− in the classical FLS model. It can be expounded in terms of a stable condensate. As a consequence, the asymptotic behavior of a non-topological soliton's energy at large charge is changed from ∼Q3/4 to the linear law.

Conformal B−L and pseudo-Goldstone dark matter

We show that a conformal extension of the standard model with local B-L symmetry and two complex scalars breaking B-L can provide a unified description of neutrino mass, origin of matter and dark matter. There are two hierarchical B-L breaking vacuum expectation value (VEV) scales in the model, the higher denoted by $v_B$ and the lower by $v_A$. The higher breaking scale is dynamically implemented via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism and plays a key role in the model since it induces electroweak symmetry breaking as well as the lower B-L breaking scale. It is also responsible for neutrino masses via the seesaw mechanism and origin of matter. The imaginary part of the complex scalar with lower B-L breaking VEV plays the role of a pseudo-Goldstone dark matter (DM). The DM particle is unstable with its lifetime naturally longer than $10^{28}$ seconds. We show that its relic density arises from the freeze-in mechanism for a wide parameter domain. Due to the pseudo-Goldstone boson nature of the DM particle, the direct detection cross section is highly suppressed. The model also predicts the dark matter to be heavier than 100 TeV and it decays to two high energy neutrinos which can be observable at the IceCube, providing a test of this model.

Leading all-loop quantum contribution to the effective potential in general scalar field theory

The RG equation for the effective potential in the leading log (LL) approximation is constructed which is valid for an arbitrary scalar field theory in 4 dimensions. The solution to this equation sums up the leading log ϕ contributions to all orders of perturbation theory. In general, this is the second order nonlinear partial differential equation, but in some cases it can be reduced to the ordinary one. For particular examples, this equation is solved numerically and the LL effective potential is constructed. The solution has a characteristic discontinuity replacing the Landau pole typical for the ϕ4 theory. For a power-like potential no new minima appear due to the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism.

The coleman-weinberg potential and its application to the hierarchy problems

The Coleman-Weinberg Potential has and is still being applied in so many areas in modern physics which include analysis of Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking (SSB). In the SM, SSB is attained by introducing an ad-hoc kind of modification resulting in the mass term of the of the classical potential assuming a tachyon-like characteristics. By analyzing all the terms in the classical potential, it is vivid that only the mass term possesses a dimensional constant. Thus, we can trace the Hierarchy Problem to the ad-hoc modification via the squired mass term. This paper does not only focus on the study of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism but also shows why application of the same is likely to unveil a clue that may lead scholars to resolving the Hierarchy Problem.

Gravitational Coleman-Weinberg mechanism

The Coleman-Weinberg mechanism provides a procedure by which a scalar field, which initially has no mass parameters, acquires a mass due to the anomalous nature of scale symmetry. Loop corrections trigger a spontaneous symmetry breaking and the appearance of a non-trivial vacuum. We first review the basic example of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism, scalar Quantum Electrodynamics, in a perturbative regime where the scalar particle becomes massive through photon loops. We then present the main results of this article, what we name the gravitational Coleman-Weinberg mechanism: we analyse the same effect in a gravitational theory without explicit energy scales at tree-level. Finally, we also study the mechanism for two scalar fields in the mentioned gravitational theory. We will derive the gravitational Coleman-Weinberg potentials, analyse the parameter space where we have a symmetry breaking, and obtain the value of the corresponding scalar masses.

Scale-invariant 3-3-1-1 model with B−L symmetry

Motivated by a possible interplay between the mechanism of dynamical symmetry breaking and the seesaw mechanism for generating fermion masses, we present a scale-invariant model that extends the gauge symmetry of the Standard Model electroweak sector to SU(3)$_L\otimes$U(1)$_X\otimes$U(1)$_N$, with a built-in $B-L$ symmetry. The model is based on the symmetry structure of the known 3-3-1 models and, thus, it relates the number of the three observed fermion generations with the cancellation of gauge anomalies. Symmetry breaking is triggered via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism taking into account a minimal set of scalar field multiplets. We establish the stability conditions for the tree-level scalar potential imposing the copositivity criteria and use the method of Gildener-Weinberg for computing the one-loop effective potential when one has multiple scalar fields. With the addition of vectorial fermions, getting their mass mainly through the vacuum expectation value of scalar singlets at $10^3$ TeV, the $B-L$ symmetry leads to textures for the fermion mass matrices, allowing seesaw mechanisms for neutrinos and quarks to take place. In particular, these mechanisms could partly explain the mass hierarchies of the quarks. Once the breakdown of the SU(3)$_L$ symmetry is supposed to occur around 10 TeV, the model also predicts new particles with TeV-scale masses, such as a neutral scalar, $H_{1}$, a charged scalar, $H^\pm$, and the gauge bosons $Z^{\prime}$, $W^{\prime\pm}$ and $Y^0$, that could be searched with the high-luminosity LHC.

Toy models for hierarchy studies

We provide a simple computation in order to estimate the probability of a given hierarchy between two scales. In particular, we work in a model provided with a gauge symmetry, with two scalar doublets. We start from a scale-invariant classical Lagrangian, but by taking into account the Coleman–Weinberg mechanism, we obtain masses for the gauge bosons and the scalars. This approach typically provides a light (L) and a heavy (H) sector related to the two different vacuum expectation values of the two scalars. We compute the size of the hypervolume of the parameter space of the model associated with an interval of mass ratios between these two sectors. We define the probability as proportional to this size and conclude that probabilities of very large hierarchies are not negligible in the type of models studied in this work.

Vacuum stability of conformally invariant scalar dark matter models

We discuss vacuum structure and vacuum stability in classically scale-invariant renormalizable models with a scalar dark matter multiplet of global O(N) symmetry together with an electroweak singlet scalar mediator. Our conformally invariant scalar potential generates the electroweak symmetry breaking via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism, and the new scalar singlet mediator acquires its mass through radiative corrections of the scalar dark matters as well as of the standard model particles. Taking into account the present collider bounds, we find the region of parameter space where the scalar potential is stable and all the massless couplings are perturbative up to the Planck scale. With the obtained parameter sets satisfying the vacuum stability condition, we present the allowed region of new physics parameters satisfying the recent measurement of relic abundance, and predict the elastic scattering cross section of the new scalar multiplet into target nuclei for a direct detection of the dark matter. We also discuss the collider signatures and future discovery potentials of the new scalars.

Cosmology of a supercooled universe

First-order phase transitions (FOPTs) are ubiquitous in physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). Recently, models with no dimensionful parameters in the tree-level action have been attracting much attention because they can predict a very strong FOPT with ultra-supercooling. In this paper, we study the cosmological signatures of such a supercooling model. As a concrete model, we consider the SM with two additional real scalars $\phi$ and $S$, which can realize the electroweak symmetry breaking via Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. One of the additional scalars $S$ can naturally become a Dark Matter (DM) candidate due to the $Z_2^{}$ symmetry of the action. We study the FOPT of this model and calculate the Gravitational Wave (GW) signals and the thermal relic abundance of $S$ taking the filtered effects into account. Within the envelope approximation, we find that the GW peak amplitude can reach $\sim 10^{-10}$ around the frequency $f\sim 10^{-3}~$Hz for model parameters $(v_\phi^{},\lambda_{\phi S}^{})\sim (200~{\rm TeV},1.6)$ where $v_\phi^{}$ is the vacuum expectation value of $\phi$ and $\lambda_{\phi S}^{}$ is the scalar mixing coupling. On the other hand, the filtered DM mechanism only works for $0.8\lesssim \lambda_{\phi S}^{}\lesssim 1$, where the GW peak amplitude is found to be quite small $\lesssim 10^{-17}$.

Low-energy probes of the small cosmic microwave background amplitude in models of the radiative Higgs mechanism

Abstract The small cosmic microwave background (CMB) amplitude As ≃ 10−9 (or small temperature fluctuation δT/T ≃ 10−5) typically requires an unnaturally small effective coupling of an inflaton λϕ ∼ 10−14. In models with non-minimal coupling ξ, extra suppression of the amplitude, e.g. by the inflaton’s large field values, usually allows λϕ to be much larger, but at the price of ξ ≫ 1. Although the difficulties have not been strictly quantified, models with λϕ ≪ 1 or ξ ≫ 1 are harder to build. We show that the absence of new physics signals at TeV scale can suggest a relatively small $\xi \lesssim {\cal O}(1\mbox{--}100)$ with $\lambda _\phi \lesssim {\cal O}(10^{-4}\mbox{--}10^{-8})$, while constraining larger ξ with larger λϕ more strongly. Above all, this is possible by a connection between low- and high-energy physics that can be made in scenarios where the U(1)X Higgs is an inflaton at a high scale while its renormalization running also induces the Coleman–Weinberg mechanism for the electroweak symmetry breaking at a low scale. The best TeV-scale signals are Z′ resonances and Higgs signal strengths. We further find the connection particularly useful since the Z′ mass is upper bounded in order to produce the correct As and the weak scale simultaenously. Utilizing the intriguing upper bounds, we work out the prospects for LHC 13 and 100 TeV pp colliders probing the parameter space of the small CMB amplitude in such a model.

The multicritical point principle as the origin of classical conformality and its generalizations

Abstract The multicritical point principle is one of the interesting theoretical possibilities that can explain the fine-tuning problems of the universe. It simply claims that “the coupling constants of a theory are tuned to one of the multicritical points, where some of the extrema of the effective potential are degenerate.” One of the simplest examples is the vanishing of the second derivative of the effective potential around a minimum. This corresponds to the so-called classical conformality, because it implies that the renormalized mass m2 vanishes. More generally, the form of the effective potential of a model depends on several coupling constants, and we should sweep them to find all the multicritical points. We study the multicritical points of a general scalar field ϕ at one-loop level under the circumstance that the vacuum expectation values of the other fields are all zero. For simplicity, we also assume that the other fields are either massless or so heavy that they do not contribute to the low-energy effective potential of ϕ. This assumption makes our discussion very simple because the resultant one-loop effective potential is parametrized by only four effective couplings. Although our analysis is not completely general because of the assumption, it can still be widely applicable to many models of the Coleman–Weinberg mechanism and its generalizations. After classifying the multicritical points at low-energy scales, we will briefly mention the possibility of criticalities at high-energy scales and their implications for cosmology.

Hunting inflatons at FASER

We explore a possibility that an inflaton, which drives the cosmological inflation in the early Universe, can be detected by the recently approved FASER at the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). We consider nonminimal quartic inflation scenario in the minimal U(1)$_X$ extension of the Standard Model (SM) with the classical conformal invariance, where the inflaton is identified with the U(1)$_X$ Higgs field ($\phi$). By virtue of the classical conformal invariance and the radiative U(1)$_X$ symmetry breaking via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism, the inflationary predictions (in particular, the tensor-to-scaler ratio ($r$)), the U(1)$_X$ coupling ($g_X$) and the U(1)$_X$ gauge boson mass ($m_{Z^\prime}$), are all determined by only two free parameters, the inflaton mass ($m_\phi$) and its mixing angle ($\theta$) with the SM Higgs field. The FASER can search for the inflaton for the parameter ranges of $0.1 \lesssim m_\phi[{\rm GeV}] \lesssim 4$ and $10^{-5} \lesssim \theta \lesssim 10^{-3}$. Because of the direct connection among $r$, $g_X$ and $m_{Z^\prime}$, the $Z^\prime$ boson resonance search at the HL-LHC and the future measurement of the primordial gravitational wave are complementary to the inflaton search at the FASER.

Light Higgs boson from multi-phase criticality in dynamical symmetry breaking

The Coleman-Weinberg mechanism can realise different phases of dynamical symmetry breaking. In each phase a combination of scalars, corresponding to the pseudo-Goldstone boson of scale invariance, has a loop-suppressed mass. We show that additional scalars, beyond the pseudo-Goldstone bosons, can become light at critical points in the parameter space where two different phases co-exist. We present a minimal implementation of the mechanism in multi-scalar models, detailing how loop-suppressed masses and mixings can be computed. We discuss realisations of the resulting multi-phase criticality principle and its relevance to the case of the Higgs boson.

Dark matter in minimal dimensional transmutation with multicritical-point principle

We investigate a model with two real scalar fields that minimally generates exponentially different scales in an analog of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. The classical scale invariance — the absence of dimensionful parameters in the tree-level action, required in such a scale generation — can naturally be understood as a special case of the multicritical-point principle. This two-scalar model can couple to the Standard Model Higgs field to realize a maximum multicriticality (with all the dimensionful parameters being tuned to critical values) for field values around the electroweak scale, providing a generalization of the classical scale invariance to a wider class of criticality. As a bonus, one of the two scalars can be identified as Higgs-portal dark matter. We find that this model can be consistent with the constraints from dark matter relic abundance, its direct detection experiments, and the latest LHC data, while keeping the perturbativity up to the reduced Planck scale. We then present successful benchmark points satisfying all these constraints: the mass of dark matter is a few TeV, and its scattering cross section with nuclei is of the order of 10−9 pb, reachable in near future experiments. The mass of extra Higgs boson H is smaller than or of the order of 100 GeV, and the cross section of e+e− → ZH can be of fb level for collision energy 250 GeV, targetted at future lepton colliders.

Gravitational waves from fundamental axion dynamics

A totally asymptotically free QCD axion model, where all couplings flow to zero in the infinite energy limit, was recently formulated. A very interesting feature of this fundamental theory is the ability to predict some low-energy observables, like the masses of the extra fermions and scalars. Here we find and investigate a region of the parameter space where the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is broken quantum mechanically through the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. This results in an even more predictive framework: the axion sector features only two independent parameters (the PQ symmetry breaking scale and the QCD gauge coupling). In particular, we show that the PQ phase transition is strongly first order and can produce gravitational waves within the reach of future detectors. The predictivity of the model leads to a rigid dependence of the phase transition (like its duration and the nucleation temperature) and the gravitational wave spectrum on the PQ symmetry breaking scale and the QCD gauge coupling.

Dynamical symmetry breaking and fermion mass hierarchy in the scale-invariant 3-3-1 model

We propose an extension of the Standard Model (SM) based on the $SU(3)_C\otimes SU(3)_L\otimes U(1)_X$ (3-3-1) gauge symmetry and scale invariance. Maintaining the main features of the so-called 3-3-1 models, such as the cancellation of gauge anomalies related to the number of chiral fermion generations, this model exhibits a very compact scalar sector. Only two scalar triplets and one singlet are necessary and sufficient to break the symmetries dynamically via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. With the introduction of an Abelian discrete symmetry and assuming a natural hierarchy among the vacuum expectation values of the neutral scalar fields, we show that all particles in the model can get phenomenologically consistent masses. In particular, most of the standard fermion masses are generated via a seesaw mechanism involving some extra heavy fermions introduced for consistency. This mechanism provides a partial solution for the fermion mass hierarchy problem in the SM. Furthermore, the simplicity of the scalar sector allows us to analytically find the conditions for the potential stability up to one-loop level and show how they can be easily satisfied. Some of the new particles, such as the scalars $H$, $H^\pm$ and all the non-SM vector bosons, are predicted to get masses around the TeV scale and, therefore, could be produced at the high-luminosity LHC. Finally, we show that the model features a residual symmetry which leads to the stability of a heavy neutral particle; the latter is expected to show up in experiments as missing energy.

Mesoscopic Stoner Instability in Open Quantum Dots: Suppression of Coleman-Weinberg Mechanism by Electron Tunneling.

The mesoscopic Stoner instability is an intriguing manifestation of symmetry breaking in isolated metallic quantum dots, underlined by the competition between single-particle energy and Heisenberg exchange interaction. Here we study this phenomenon in the presence of tunnel coupling to a reservoir. Weanalyze the spin susceptibility of electrons on the quantum dot for different values of couplings and temperature. Our results indicate the existence of a "quantum phase transition" at a critical value of the tunneling coupling, which is determined by the Stoner-enhanced exchange interaction. This quantum phase transition is a manifestation of the suppression of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism of symmetry breaking, induced by coupling to the reservoir.

Gravitational waves from supercool axions

We study the dynamics of the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) phase transition for the QCD axion. In weakly coupled models the transition is typically second order except in the region of parameters where the PQ symmetry is broken through the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. In strongly coupled realizations the transition is often first order. We show examples where the phase transition leads to strong supercooling lowering the nucleation temperature and enhancing the stochastic gravitational wave signals. The models predict a frequency peak in the range 100–1000 Hz with an amplitude that is already within the sensitivity of LIGO and can be thoroughly tested with future gravitational wave interferometers.

Planck scale from broken local conformal invariance in Weyl geometry

It is shown that in the quadratic gravity based on Weyl's conformal geometry, the Planck mass scale can be generated from quantum effects of the gravitational field and the Weyl gauge field via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism where a local scale symmetry, that is, conformal symmetry, is broken. At the same time, the Weyl gauge field acquires mass less than the Planck mass by absorbing the dilaton. The shape of the effective potential is almost flat owing to a gravitational character and high symmetries, so our model would provide an attractive model for the inflationary universe. We also present a toy model showing spontaneous symmetry breakdown of a scale symmetry by moving from the Jordan frame to the Einstein one, and point out its problem.

Logarithmic loop corrections, moduli stabilisation and de Sitter vacua in string theory

We study string loop corrections to the gravity kinetic terms in type IIB com- pactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds or their orbifold limits, in the presence of D7-branes and orientifold planes. We show that they exhibit in general a logarithmic behaviour in the large volume limit transverse to the D7-branes, induced by a localised four-dimensional Einstein-Hilbert action that appears at a lower order in the closed string sector, found in the past. Here, we compute the coefficient of the logarithmic corrections and use them to provide an explicit realisation of a mechanism for Kähler moduli stabilisation that we have proposed recently, which does not rely on non-perturbative effects and lead to de Sit- ter vacua. Our result avoids no-go theorems of perturbative stabilisation due to runaway potentials, in a way similar to the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism, and provides a counter example to one of the swampland conjectures concerning de Sitter vacua in quantum grav- ity, once string loop effects are taken into account; it thus paves the way for embedding the Standard Model of particle physics and cosmology in string theory.