Naturalness redux

TL;DR

This paper proposes a supersymmetric extension of the right-handed neutrino sector to address naturalness in neutrino mass generation, allowing higher mass scales compatible with baryogenesis and dark matter.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach where only the right-handed neutrino sector is supersymmetric, delaying naturalness breakdown to higher loops and enabling larger neutrino masses.

Findings

Right-handed neutrino masses can be increased by an order of magnitude.

The model supports baryogenesis via leptogenesis.

Contains a dark matter candidate and predicts new leptonic physics.

Abstract

The idea of naturalness, as originally conceived, refers only to the finite renormalization of the Higgs boson mass induced by the introduction of heavier states. In this respect, naturalness is still a powerful heuristic principle in model building beyond the standard model whenever new massive states are coupled to the Higgs field. The most compelling case is provided by the generation of neutrino masses. In this paper we confront this problem from a new perspective. The right-handed sector responsible for the seesaw mechanism---which introduces a large energy threshold above the electroweak scale---is made supersymmetric to comply with naturalness while the standard model is left unchanged and non-supersymmetric. Cancellations necessary to the naturalness requirement break down only at two loops, thus offering the possibility to increase the right-handed neutrino mass scale up to one order of magnitude above the usual values allowed by naturalness. If also the weak boson sector of the standard model is made supersymmetric, cancellations break down at three loops and the scale of new physics can be further raised. In the type-I seesaw, this implementation provides right-handed neutrino masses that are natural and at the same time large enough to give rise to baryogenesis (via leptogenesis). The model contains a dark matter candidate and distinctive new physics in the leptonic sector.