Light Higgs boson from multi-phase criticality in dynamical symmetry breaking

TL;DR

This paper explores how multi-phase criticality in dynamical symmetry breaking can produce a light Higgs boson, highlighting a mechanism where additional scalars become light at phase co-existence points, with implications for Higgs physics.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal multi-scalar model demonstrating how critical points can generate light scalars beyond pseudo-Goldstone bosons, advancing understanding of Higgs mass origins.

Findings

Light scalars emerge at phase critical points.

Loop-suppressed masses and mixings are computable.

Relevance to Higgs boson properties is discussed.

Abstract

The Coleman-Weinberg mechanism can realise different phases of dynamical symmetry breaking. In each phase a combination of scalars, corresponding to the pseudo-Goldstone boson of scale invariance, has a loop-suppressed mass. We show that additional scalars, beyond the pseudo-Goldstone bosons, can become light at critical points in the parameter space where two different phases co-exist. We present a minimal implementation of the mechanism in multi-scalar models, detailing how loop-suppressed masses and mixings can be computed. We discuss realisations of the resulting multi-phase criticality principle and its relevance to the case of the Higgs boson.