# Direct Higgs-gravity interaction and stability of our Universe

**Authors:** Vincenzo Branchina, Eloisa Bentivegna, Filippo Contino, Dario, Zappal\`a

arXiv: 1905.02975 · 2019-06-26

## TL;DR

This paper proposes a universal stabilizing mechanism for our universe's stability, arising from the nonminimal coupling between gravity and the Higgs boson, which naturally occurs in quantum gravitational backgrounds.

## Contribution

It introduces a fundamental, model-independent mechanism from Higgs-gravity interaction that stabilizes the electroweak vacuum against decay.

## Key findings

- Higgs-gravity coupling can stabilize the electroweak vacuum.
- The mechanism is universal and rooted in fundamental physics.
- It does not depend on specific new physics models.

## Abstract

The Higgs effective potential becomes unstable at approximately $10^{11}$ GeV, and if only standard model interactions are considered, the lifetime $\tau$ of the electroweak vacuum turns out to be much larger than the age of the Universe $T_U$. It is well known, however, that $\tau$ is extremely sensitive to the presence of unknown new physics: the latter can enormously lower $\tau$. This poses a serious problem for the stability of our Universe, demanding for a physical mechanism that protects it from a disastrous decay. We have found that there exists a universal stabilizing mechanism that naturally originates from the nonminimal coupling between gravity and the Higgs boson. As this Higgs-gravity interaction necessarily arises from the quantum dynamics of the Higgs field in a gravitational background, this stabilizing mechanism is certainly present. It is not related to any specific model, being rather natural and universal as it comes from fundamental pillars of our physical world: gravity, the Higgs field, the quantum nature of physical laws.

## Full text

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## Figures

18 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1905.02975/full.md

## References

46 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1905.02975/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1905.02975