The Electroweak Vacuum Decay and the Gravitational Contribution

TL;DR

This paper reviews the stability of the Standard Model electroweak vacuum, updates the analysis with recent mass measurements, and discusses how Einstein gravity and softened gravity scenarios influence vacuum decay.

Contribution

It provides an updated review of electroweak vacuum stability considering recent top and Higgs mass data and analyzes gravitational effects, including softened gravity, on vacuum decay.

Findings

Vacuum stability depends critically on top and Higgs masses.

Gravitational corrections can significantly alter decay rates.

Softened gravity scenarios impact the vacuum decay process.

Abstract

Whether the Standard Model electroweak vacuum is stable, metastable or unstable depends crucially on the top mass (and, to a lesser extent, on other measurable quantities). These topics are reviewed and updated by taking into account the most recent determination of the top and Higgs masses. Moreover, the correction to the vacuum decay due to Einstein gravity is described. This process is also discussed in a scenario, called softened gravity, which has been proposed as a solution of the Higgs mass hierarchy problem.