Electroweak Model Research Articles

The Higgs mechanism and superconductivity: A case study of formal analogies

Following the experimental discovery of the Higgs boson, physicists explained the discovery to the public by appealing to analogies with condensed matter physics. The historical root of these analogies is the analogies to models of superconductivity that inspired the introduction of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) into particle physics in the early 1960s. We offer a historical and philosophical analysis of the analogies between the Higgs model of the electroweak (EW) interaction and the Ginsburg–Landau (GL) and Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) models of superconductivity, respectively. The conclusion of our analysis is that both sets of analogies are purely formal in virtue of the fact that they are accompanied by substantial physical disanalogies. In particular, the formal analogies do not map the temporal, causal, or modal structures of SSB in superconductivity to temporal, causal, or modal structures in the Higgs model. These substantial physical disanalogies mean that analogies to models of superconductivity cannot supply the basis for the physical interpretation of EW SSB; however, an appreciation of the contrast between the physical interpretations of SSB in superconductivity and the Higgs model does help to clarify some foundational issues. Unlike SSB in superconductivity, SSB in the Higgs sector of the Standard Model (without the addition of new physics) is neither a temporal nor a causal process. We discuss the implications for the ‘eating’ metaphor for mass gain in the Higgs model. Furthermore, the distinction between the phenomenological GL model and the dynamical BCS model does not carry over to EW models, which clarifies the desiderata for the so-called ‘dynamical’ models of EW SSB (e.g., minimal technicolor). Finally, the development of the Higgs model is an illuminating case study for philosophers of science because it illustrates how purely formal analogies can play a fruitful heuristic role in physics.

SU(2/1) gauge-Higgs unification

We discuss a question whether the observed Weinberg angle and Higgs mass are calculable in the formalism based on a construction in which the electroweak gauge group [Formula: see text] is embedded in the graded Lie group [Formula: see text]. Here, we follow original works of Ne’eman and Fairlie believing that bosonic fields take their values in the Lie superalgebra and fermionic fields take their values in its representation space. At the same time, our approach differs significantly. The main one is that while for them the gauge symmetry group is [Formula: see text], here we consider only symmetries generated by its even subgroup, i.e. symmetries of the standard electroweak model. The reason is that such formalism fixes the quartic Higgs coupling and at the same time removes the sign and statistics problems. The main result is that the presented model predicts values of the Weinberg angle and the Higgs mass correctly up to the two-loop level. Moreover, the model sets the unification scale coinciding with the electroweak scale and automatically describes the fermions correctly with the correct quark and lepton charges.

String completion of an SU(3)c⊗ SU(3)L⊗ U(1)X electroweak model

The extended electroweak $\mathrm{SU(3)_c \otimes SU(3)_L \otimes U(1)_X}$ symmetry framework "explaining" the number of fermion families is revisited. While $331$-based schemes can not easily be unified within the conventional field theory sense, we show how to do it within an approach based on D-branes and (un)oriented open strings, on Calabi-Yau singularities. We show how the theory can be UV-completed in a quiver setup, free of gauge and string anomalies. Lepton and baryon numbers are perturbatively conserved, so neutrinos are Dirac-type, and their lightness results from a novel TeV scale seesaw mechanism. Dynamical violation of baryon number by exotic instantons could induce neutron-antineutron oscillations, with proton decay and other dangerous R-parity violating processes strictly forbidden.

Symmetry breaking patterns of the 3-3-1 model at finite temperature

We consider the minimal version of an extension of the standard electroweak model based on the $SU(3)_c \times SU(3)_L \times U(1)_X$ gauge symmetry (the 3-3-1 model). We analyze the most general potential constructed from three scalars in the triplet representation of $SU(3)_L$, whose neutral components develop nonzero vacuum expectation values, giving mass for all the model's massive particles. {}For different choices of parameters, we obtain the particle spectrum for the two symmetry breaking scales: one where the $SU(3)_L \times U(1)_X$ group is broken down to $SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y$ and a lower scale similar to the standard model one. Within the considerations used, we show that the model encodes two first-order phase transitions, respecting the pattern of symmetry restoration. The last transition, corresponding to the standard electroweak one, is found to be very weak first-order, most likely turning second-order or a crossover in practice. However, the first transition in this model can be strongly first-order, which might happen at a temperature not too high above the second one. We determine the respective critical temperatures for symmetry restoration for the model.

A DERIVATION OF THE HIGGS MASS TO BE 123 GEV AND A NOTE ON THE WEINBERG ANGLE

We give an annotated analysis of the exposition of the Standard Electroweak Model by Quigg ([4], in particular, pp. 121-127). We will derive the rest energy of the Higgs particle to be 123 GeV, in near perfect agreement with the observed 125 GeV by the highly publicized LHC finding on July 4, 2012 (cf. [2] for pursuing a model to derive this result). However, we contend that the role played by the Higgs is not that of endowing rest masses to particles, rather it serves as the source of the weak nuclear force by generating the W± and Z0 bosons (cf. [3]). In this connection, we will show that the Higgs boson in the electroweak integration imparts rest masses not only to W± and Z0 but also to photons despite the linear transformation (known as the Weinberg angle) of the Maxwell electromagnetic 4-potential Aμ along with the postulated b (3) μ into a photon field A0,μ along with Z0,μ (by our extensive literature research, no similar

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and masses numerical results in Doplicher-Fredenhagen-Roberts noncommutative space-time

With the elements of the Doplicher-Fredenhagen-Roberts (DFR) noncommutative formalism, we have constructed a standard electroweak model. We have introduced the spontaneous symmetry breaking and the hypercharge in DFR framework. The electroweak symmetry breaking was analyzed and the masses of the new bosons were computed.

Elementary particles in the early Universe

The high-temperature limit of the Standard Model generated by the contractions of gauge groups is discussed. Contraction parameters of gauge group SU(2) of the Electroweak Model and gauge group SU(3) of Quantum Chromodynamics are taken identical and tending to zero when the temperature increases. Properties of the elementary particles change drastically at the infinite temperature limit: all particles lose masses, all quarks are monochromatic. Electroweak interactions become long-range and are mediated by neutral currents. Particles of different kind do not interact. It looks like some stratification with only one sort of particles in each stratum. The Standard Model passes in this limit through several stages, which are distinguished by the powers of the contraction parameter. For any stage intermediate models are constructed and the exact expressions for the respective Lagrangians are presented. The developed approach describes the evolution of the Standard Model in the early Universe from the Big Bang up to the end of several nanoseconds.

Neutrino-axion-dilaton interconnection

We show that a recently proposed framework that provides a simple connection between Majorana neutrinos and an invisible axion in minimal scalar extensions of the standard electroweak model can be naturally embedded in a classically scale-invariant setup. The explicit breaking of the scale invariance \`a la Coleman-Weinberg generates the Peccei-Quinn and electroweak scales. The spontaneous breaking of the chiral $U(1)_{PQ}$ triggers the generation of neutrino masses via Type-II seesaw and, at the same time, provides a dynamical solution to the strong CP problem as well as the axion as a dark matter candidate. The electroweak and neutrino mass scales are obtained via a technically natural ultraweak limit of the singlet scalar interactions. Accordingly, a realistic and perturbatively stable scalar spectrum, possibly in the reach of the LHC, is naturally obtained. A very light pseudodilaton characterizes such a setting. The vacuum stability of the extended setup is discussed.

A Brief Review on WIMPs in 331 Electroweak Gauge Models

In this work we review the cold dark matter problem in the context of a class of models which are a simple extension of the electroweak standard model, where the gauge symmetry is dictated by the group structure,SU(3)c SU(3)L U(1)X . This model, in different versions, has been able to address many interesting facts not explained by the standard model. It would be just desirable that the dark matter issue could be contemplated as well, since the problem of the missing matter has become one of the greatest indications of incompleteness of currently established theories describing the known interactions and the cosmological evolution and content of the observed Universe. We do that by pointing out some of the successful steps in this direction and remarking some sources of difficulties concerning their phenomenological and theoretical implementation.

The coannihilation codex

We present a general classification of simplified models that lead to dark matter (DM) coannihilation processes of the form DM + X $\rightarrow$ SM$_1$ + SM$_2$, where X is a coannihilation partner for the DM particle and SM$_1$, SM$_2$ are Standard Model fields. Our classification also encompasses regular DM pair annihilation scenarios if DM and X are identical. Each coannhilation scenario motivates the introduction of a mediating particle M that can either belong to the Standard Model or be a new field, whereby the resulting interactions between the dark sector and the Standard Model are realized as tree-level and dimension-four couplings. We construct a basis of coannihilation models, classified by the $SU(3)_C\times SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y$ quantum numbers of DM, X and M. Our main assumptions are that dark matter is an electrically neutral color singlet and that all new particles are either scalars, Dirac or Majorana fermions, or vectors. We illustrate how new scenarios arising from electroweak symmetry breaking effects can be connected to our electroweak symmetric simplified models. We offer a comprehensive discussion of the phenomenological features of our models, encompassing the physics of thermal freeze-out, direct and indirect detection constraints, and in particular searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Many novel signatures that are not covered in current LHC searches are emphasized, and new and improved LHC analyses tackling these signatures are proposed. We discuss how the coannihilation simplified models can be used to connect results from all classes of experiments in a straightforward and transparent way. This point is illustrated with a detailed discussion of the phenomenology of a particular simplified model featuring leptoquark-mediated dark matter coannihilation.

My Life with Quarks

This is a personal, anecdotal and autobiographical account of my early endeavors in particle physics, emphasizing how they interwove with the conception and eventual acceptance of the quark hypothesis. I focus on the years from 1958, when my doctoral work at Harvard was completed, to 1970, when John Iliopoulos, Luciano Maiani and I introduced the GIM mechanism, thereby extending the electroweak model to include all known particles, and some that were not then known. I have not described the profound advances in quantum field theory and the many difficult and ingenious experimental efforts that undergird my story which is not intended to be an inclusive record of this exciting decade of my discipline. My tale begins almost two years before I met Murray and over five years before the invention of quarks.

Electroweak scale invariant models with small cosmological constant

We consider scale invariant models where the classical scale invariance is broken perturbatively by radiative corrections at the electroweak scale. These models potentially offer an elegant and simple solution to the hierarchy problem. If we further require the cosmological constant to be small then such models are also highly predictive. Indeed, the minimal such model, comprizing a Higgs doublet and a real singlet, has the same number of parameters as the standard model. Although this minimal model is disfavored by recent LHC data, we show that two specific extensions incorporating neutrino masses and dark matter are fully realistic. That is, consistent with all experiments and observations. These models predict a light pseudo-Goldstone boson, h, with mass around 10 GeV or less. A fermionic-bosonic mass relation is also predicted. The specific models considered, as well as more generic scale invariant models, can be probed at the LHC.

Right-polarized neutral (anti)leptons in the solar neutrino flux

The flavor structure of solar beryllium neutrinos is investigated. The possible presence of neutral (anti)leptons of the second and third generations and related (electron) antineutrinos in the solar neutrino flux is considered. The energy spectra of recoil electrons upon (anti)neutrino–electron scattering are analyzed using the standard electroweak model (SM).

Publisher’s Note: Electroweak standard model with very special relativity [Phys. Rev. D91, 105007 (2015)

Publisher’s Note: Electroweak standard model with very special relativity [Phys. Rev. D<b>91</b>, 105007 (2015)

Radiative electroweak symmetry breaking models

The possibility of electroweak symmetry breaking radiatively with Coleman-Weinberg mechanism is examined. New mixed quartic coupling of the Higgs boson with an extra scalar field allows radiative electroweak symmetry breaking but it comes with a Landau pole very near the weak scale.

Natural limits of electroweak model as contraction of its gauge group

The low and higher energy limits of the electroweak model are obtained from the first principles of gauge theory. Both limits are given by the same contraction of the gauge group, but for the different consistent rescalings of the field space. Mathematical contraction parameter in both cases is interpreted as energy. Very weak neutrino–matter interactions are explained by zero tending contraction parameter, which depends on neutrino energy. The second consistent rescaling corresponds to the higher energy limit of the electroweak model. At the infinite energy all particles lose mass, electroweak interactions become long-range and are mediated by neutral currents. The limit model represents the development of the early Universe from the big bang up to the end of the first second.

Electroweak standard model with very special relativity

The Very Special Relativity Electroweak Standard Model (VSR EW SM) is a theory with $SU(2)_L \times U(1)_R$ symmetry, with the same number of leptons and gauge fields as in the usual Weinberg-Salam (WS) model. No new particles are introduced. The model is renormalizable and unitarity is preserved. However, photons obtain mass and the massive bosons obtain different masses for different polarizations. Besides, neutrino masses are generated. A VSR invariant term will produce neutrino oscillations and new processes are allowed. In particular, we compute the rate of the decays $\mu \rightarrow e + \gamma$. All these processes, which are forbidden in the Electroweak Standard Model, put stringent bounds on the parameters of our model and measure the violation of Lorentz invariance. We investigate the canonical quantization of this non-local model. Second quantization is carried out obtaining a well defined particle concept. Additionally, we do a counting of the degrees of freedom associated to the gauge bosons involved in this work, after Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking has been realized. Violations of Lorentz invariance have been predicted by several theories of Quantum Gravity \cite{amu}. It is a remarkable possibility that the low energy effects of Lorentz violation induced by Quantum Gravity could be contained in the non-local terms of the VSR EW SM.

Nonperturbative quantization of the electroweak model’s electrodynamic sector

Consider the Euclidean functional integral representation of any physical process in the electroweak model. Integrating out the fermion degrees of freedom introduces twenty-four fermion determinants. These multiply the Gaussian functional measures of the Maxwell, $Z$, $W$ and Higgs fields to give an effective functional measure. Suppose the functional integral over the Maxwell field is attempted first. This paper is concerned with the large amplitude behavior of the Maxwell effective measure. It is assumed that the large amplitude variation of this measure is insensitive to the presence of the $Z$, $W$ and $H$ fields; they are assumed to be a subdominant perturbation of the large amplitude Maxwell sector. Accordingly, we need only examine the large amplitude variation of a single QED fermion determinant. To facilitate this the Schwinger proper time representation of this determinant is decomposed into a sum of three terms. The advantage of this is that the separate terms can be non-perturbatively estimated for a measurable class of large amplitude random fields in four dimensions. It is found that the QED fermion determinant grows faster than $\exp \left[ce^2\int\mathrm d^4x\, F_{\mu\nu}^2\right]$, $c>0$, in the absence of zero mode supporting random background potentials. This raises doubt on whether the QED fermion determinant is integrable with any Gaussian measure whose support does not include zero mode supporting potentials. Including zero mode supporting background potentials can result in a decaying exponential growth of the fermion determinant. This is \textit{prima facie} evidence that Maxwellian zero modes are necessary for the non-perturbative quantization of QED and, by implication, for the non-perturbative quantization of the electroweak model.

Standard electroweak interactions in gravitational theory with chameleon field and torsion

We propose a version of a gravitational theory with the torsion field, induced by the chameleon field. Following Hojman et al. Phys. Rev. D17, 3141 (1976) the results, obtained in Phys. Rev. D90, 045040 (2014), are generalised by extending the Einstein gravity to the Einstein-Cartan gravity with the torsion field as a gradient of the chameleon field through a modification of local gauge invariance of minimal coupling in the Weinberg-Salam electroweak model. The contributions of the chameleon (torsion) field to the observables of electromagnetic and weak processes are calculated. Since in our approach the chameleon-photon coupling constant beta_(gamma) is equal to the chameleon-matter coupling constant beta, i.e. beta_(gamma) = beta, the experimental constraints on beta, obtained in terrestrial laboratories by T. Jenke et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 115105 (2014)) and by H. Lemmel et al. (Phys. Lett. B743, 310 (2015)), can be used for the analysis of astrophysical sources of chameleons, proposed by C. Burrage et al. (Phys. Rev. D79, 044028 (2009)), A.-Ch. Davis et al. (Phys. Rev. D80, 064016 (2009), and in references therein, where chameleons induce photons because of direct chameleon-photon transitions in the magnetic fields.

Classification and sharp range of flux-pairs for radial solutions to a coupled system

In this paper, we study a coupled system of two nonlinear partial differential equations in the plane, which is related to Liouville equations, non-abelian Higgs BPS vortex equations or two Higgs electroweak model, with singularities at the origin. In addition to deriving the uniqueness of the so-called topological solutions, we also clarify the structure of all types of solutions, including the blow-up ones, under various conditions on coefficients and parameters appearing in the system. Furthermore, the sharp range of flux-pairs associated with specific types of solutions is considered as well.