Neutrino Masses in the Lee-Wick Standard Model

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the Lee-Wick Standard Model can incorporate very heavy particles, like right-handed neutrinos, without destabilizing the Higgs mass, thus maintaining the solution to the hierarchy problem.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the see-saw mechanism for neutrino masses can be integrated into the Lee-Wick Standard Model without reintroducing hierarchy instability.

Findings

Heavy right-handed neutrinos do not destabilize the Higgs mass in the Lee-Wick model.

The higher derivative terms preserve the hierarchy solution with neutrino mass generation.

A mechanism is discussed for coupling other heavy particles while maintaining stability.

Abstract

Recently, an extension of the standard model based on ideas of Lee and Wick has been discussed. This theory is free of quadratic divergences and hence has a Higgs mass that is stable against radiative corrections. Here, we address the question of whether or not it is possible to couple very heavy particles, with masses much greater than the weak scale, to the Lee-Wick standard model degrees of freedom and still preserve the stability of the weak scale. We show that in the LW-standard model the familiar see-saw mechanism for generating neutrino masses preserves the solution to the hierarchy puzzle provided by the higher derivative terms. The very heavy right handed neutrinos do not destabilize the Higgs mass. We give an example of new heavy degrees of freedom that would destabilize the hierarchy, and discuss a general mechanism for coupling other heavy degrees of freedom to the Higgs doublet while preserving the hierarchy.