Is There a Hidden Principle in the Higgs Boson Decay to Photons?

TL;DR

This paper investigates the possibility that the Higgs boson mass is determined by a fundamental principle that maximizes its decay rate to photons, with implications for Standard Model features and new physics constraints.

Contribution

It proposes a novel principle that fixes the Higgs mass at 125 GeV by maximizing decay to photons, influencing Standard Model parameters and constraining new physics models.

Findings

The Higgs mass may be set by a principle maximizing photon decay rate.

Standard Model features like fermion families and quark colors are constrained by this principle.

Strong bounds on new physics scenarios are derived from the principle.

Abstract

It is remarkable that the measured Higgs boson mass is so close to the value which maximizes the Higgs decay rate to photons as predicted by the Standard Model. In this work we explore the consequences to assume that an $\sim 125$ GeV Higgs boson mass is not accidental, but fixed by some fundamental principle that enforces it to maximize its decay rate into photons. The principle is motivated by the evidence that only a very small volume of the parameters space of the Standard Model, which contains their measured values, could lead to a maximal Higgs boson with that mass. If the principle actually holds, several Standard Model features get fixed, as the number of fermion families, quark colors, and the CP nature of the new boson, for example. We also illustrate how such principle can place strong bounds on new physics scenarios as a Higgs dark portal model and a Two Higgs Doublet Model.