New Massive Gravity provides a non-linear extension of the Fierz-Pauli mass for gravitons in 2+1 dimensions. Here we construct a Weyl invariant version of this theory. When the Weyl symmetry is broken, the graviton gets a mass in analogy with the Higgs mechanism. In (anti)-de Sitter backgrounds, the symmetry can be broken spontaneously, but in flat backgrounds radiative corrections, at the two loop level, break the Weyl symmetry a la Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. We also construct the Weyl invariant extensions of some other higher derivative models, such as the Gauss-Bonnet theory (which reduces to the Maxwell theory in three dimensions) and the Born-Infeld type gravities.
Recently, it has been pointed out that dimensionless actions in four dimensional curved spacetime possess a symmetry which goes beyond scale invariance but is smaller than full Weyl invariance. This symmetry was dubbed {\it restricted Weyl invariance}. We show that starting with a restricted Weyl invariant action that includes a Higgs sector with no explicit mass, one can generate the Einstein-Hilbert action with cosmological constant and a Higgs mass. The model also contains an extra massless scalar field which couples to the Higgs field (and gravity). If the coupling of this extra scalar fie…
We consider Weyl's conformal gravity coupled to a complex matter field in Weyl geometry. It is shown that a Higgs potential naturally arises from a $\tilde R^2$ term in moving from the Jordan frame to the Einstein frame. A massless Nambu-Goldstone boson, which stems from spontaneous symmetry breakdown of the Weyl gauge invariance, is absorbed into the Weyl gauge field, thereby the gauge field becoming massive. We present a model where the gravitational interaction generates a Higgs potential whose form is a perfect square. Finally, we show that a theory in the Jordan frame is gauge-equivalent …
We consider the (gauged) Weyl gravity action, quadratic in the scalar curvature ($\tilde R$) and in the Weyl tensor ($\tilde C_{μνρσ}$) of the Weyl conformal geometry. In the absence of matter fields, this action has spontaneous breaking in which the Weyl gauge field $ω_μ$ becomes massive (mass $m_ω\sim$ Planck scale) after "eating" the dilaton in the $\tilde R^2$ term, in a Stueckelberg mechanism. As a result, one recovers the Einstein-Hilbert action with a positive cosmological constant and the Proca action for the massive Weyl gauge field $ω_μ$. Below $m_ω$ this field decouples and Weyl geo…
The standard electroweak theory of leptons and the conformal groups of spacetime Weyl's transformations are at the core of a general relativistic, conformally covariant scalar tensor theory aimed at the resolution of the most intriguing enigma of modern Physics: the cosmological constant paradox (hereafter: Lambda paradox. A Higgs mechanism within a spontaneous symmetry breaking process offers formal connections, via an effective potential V(eff), between some relevant properties of the elementary particles and the dark energy content of the Universe. The nonintegrable application of the Weyl'…
We show how the bosonic spectral action emerges from the fermionic action by the renormalization group flow in the presence of a dilaton and the Weyl anomaly. The induced action comes out to be basically the Chamseddine-Connes spectral action introduced in the context of noncommutative geometry. The entire spectral action describes gauge and Higgs fields coupled with gravity. We then consider the effective potential and show, that it has the desired features of a broken and an unbroken phase, with the roll down.
A common biquadratic potential for the Higgs field $h$ and an additional scalar field $ϕ$, non minimally coupled to gravity, is considered in locally scale symmetric approaches to standard model fields in curved spacetime. A common ground state of the two scalar fields exists and couples both fields to gravity, more precisely to scalar curvature $R$. In Einstein gauge ($ϕ= const$, often called "Einstein frame"), also $R$ is scaled to a constant. This condition makes perfect sense, even in the general case, in the Weyl geometric approach. There it has been called {\em Weyl gauge}, because it wa…
We derive a Higgs inflationary model in the context of a complex geometrical scalar-tensor theory of gravity. In this model the Higgs inflaton scalar field has geometrical origin playing the role of the Weyl scalar field in the original non-riemannian background geometry. The energy scale enough to generate inflation from the Higgs energy scale is achieved due to the compatibility of the theory with its background complex Weyl-integrable geometry. We found that for a number of e-foldings $N=63$, a nearly scale invariant spectrum for the inflaton is obtained with an spectral index $n_s\simeq 0.…
Energy momentum tensors of higher-derivative free scalar conformal field theories in flat spacetime are discussed. Two algorithms for the computation of energy momentum tensors are described, which accomplish different goals: the first is brute-force and highlights the complexity of the energy momentum tensors, while the second displays some features of their geometric origin as variations of Weyl invariant curved-space actions. New compact expressions for energy momentum tensors are given and specific obstructions to defining them as conformal primary operators in some spacetime dimensions ar…
In this paper, we consider the generalized Gauss-Bonnet action in $4$-dimensional Weyl-Cartan space-time. In this space-time, the presence of torsion tensor and Weyl vector implies that the generalized Gauss-Bonnet action will not be a total derivative in four dimension space-time. It will be shown that the higher than two time derivatives can be removed from the action by choosing suitable set of parameters. In the special case where only the trace part of the torsion remains, the model reduces to GR plus two vector fields. One of which is massless and the other is massive. We will then obtai…
Higher-derivative theories of free higher-spin fields are investigated focusing on their symmetries. Generalizing familiar two-derivative constrained formulations, we first construct less-constrained Einstein-like and Maxwell-like higher-derivative actions. Then, we construct Weyl-like actions - the actions admitting constrained Weyl symmetries - with different numbers of derivatives. They are presented in a factorized form making use of Einstein-like and Maxwell-like tensors. The last (highest-derivative) member of the hierarchy of the Weyl-like actions coincides with the Fradkin-Tseytlin con…
We consider an extension of Higgs inflation in which the Higgs field is non-minimally coupled to gravity through its kinetic term. We analyzed power-law coupling functions with positive or negative integer power and found that the Higgs boson can drive a successful inflation only for the cases $n=2,1,0,-1$. Theoretical predictions for both tensor to scalar ratio $r$ and scalar spectral index $n_s$ are within the 2018 \textit{Planck} $95\%$ CL. The behavior of the self coupling $λ$ with respect to the scalar field at the horizon crossing was obtained, and It was found that it can take values in…
The pure $R^2$ gravity is equivalent to Einstein gravity with cosmological constant and a massless scalar field and it further possesses the so-called restricted Weyl symmetry which is a symmetry larger than scale symmetry. To incorporate matter, we consider a restricted Weyl invariant action composed of pure $R^2$ gravity, SU(2) Yang-Mills fields and a non-minimally coupled massless Higgs field (a triplet of scalars). When the restricted Weyl symmetry is spontaneously broken, it is equivalent to an Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs (EYMH) action with a cosmological constant and a massive Higgs non-mi…
We revisit a particular ghost-free bimetric model which is related to both partial masslessness (PM) and conformal gravity. Linearly, the model propagates six instead of seven degrees of freedom not only around de Sitter but also around flat spacetime. Nonlinearly, the equations of motion can be recast in the form of expansions in powers of curvatures, and exhibit a remarkable amount of structure. In this form, the equations are shown to be invariant under scalar gauge transformations, at least up to six orders in derivatives, the lowest order term being a Weyl scaling of the metrics. The term…
It is shown that the AdS_3 gravity action with boundary terms is non invariant under diffeomorphisms and that its Lie derivative has the form of the Weyl anomaly in two dimensions. This variation is compensated by a Weyl transformation of the boundary metric when the radial derivative of the metric on the boundary is expressed in terms of the stress tensor of a Liouville field. The obtained invariance of the action under the combined transformation of a diffeomorphism and a Weyl transformation allows to interpret the computed Lie derivative as minus the Weyl anomaly of the two-dimensional effe…
We study the Standard Model (SM) in Weyl conformal geometry. This embedding is natural and truly minimal {\it with no new fields} required beyond the SM spectrum and Weyl geometry. The action inherits a gauged scale symmetry $D(1)$ (known as Weyl gauge symmetry) from the underlying geometry. The associated Weyl quadratic gravity undergoes spontaneous breaking of $D(1)$ by a geometric Stueckelberg mechanism in which the Weyl gauge field ($ω_μ$) acquires mass by "absorbing" the spin-zero mode ($ϕ_0$) of the $\tilde R^2$ term in the action. This mode also generates the Planck scale and the cosmol…
Using topological string techniques, we compute BPS counting functions of 5d gauge theories which descend from 6d superconformal field theories upon circle compactification. Such theories are naturally organized in terms of nodes of Higgsing trees. We demonstrate that the specialization of the partition function as we move from the crown to the root of a tree is determined by homomorphisms between rings of Weyl invariant Jacobi forms. Our computations are made feasible by the fact that symmetry enhancements of the gauge theory which are manifest on the massless spectrum are inherited by the en…
In this paper we demonstrate how, using the coset construction, a theory can be systematically made Weyl invariant by gauging the scale symmetry. We show that an analog of the inverse Higgs constraint allows the elimination of the Weyl vector (gauge) field in favor of curvatures. We extend the procedure -- previously coined Ricci gauging -- and discuss its subtlety for the case of theories with higher derivatives of conformally variant fields.
We systematically analyze the effective action on the moduli space of (2,0) superconformal field theories in six dimensions, as well as their toroidal compactification to maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories in five and four dimensions. We present a streamlined approach to non-renormalization theorems that constrain this effective action. The first several orders in its derivative expansion are determined by a one-loop calculation in five-dimensional Yang-Mills theory. This fixes the leading higher-derivative operators that describe the renormalization group flow into theories residing…
The measured values of the Standard Model (SM) parameters favors a shallow metastable electroweak (EW) vacuum surrounded by a deep global AdS or a runaway Minkowski minimum. Furthermore, fine-tuning is the only explanation for the Higgs relaxing in its present local minimum. In this paper, assuming no new physics beyond the SM, we study the universal effect of gravity on the Higgs dynamics in the early universe. A generic two-parameter model is considered in which the Higgs is non-minimally coupled to a higher-curvature theory of gravity. The coupling between the Higgs field and the Weyl field…
In this paper, two things are done. (i) Using cohomological techniques, we explore the consistent deformations of linearized conformal gravity in 4 dimensions. We show that the only possibility involving no more than 4 derivatives of the metric (i.e., terms of the form $\partial^4 g_{μν}$, $\partial^3 g_{μν} \partial g_{αβ}$, $\partial^2 g_{μν} \partial^2g_{αβ}$, $\partial^2 g_{μν} \partial g_{αβ} \partial g_{ρσ}$ or $\partial g_{μν} \partial g_{αβ} \partial g_{ρσ} \partial g_{γδ}$ with coefficients that involve undifferentiated metric components - or terms with less derivatives) is given by t…
We construct and study perturbative unitarity (i.e., ghost and tachyon analysis) of a $3+1$-dimensional noncompact Weyl-Einstein-Yang-Mills model. The model describes a local noncompact Weyl's scale plus $SU(N)$ phase invariant Higgs-like field, conformally coupled to a generic Weyl-invariant dynamical background. Here, the Higgs-like sector generates the Weyl's conformal invariance of system. The action does not admit any dimensionful parameter and genuine presence of de Sitter vacuum spontaneously breaks the noncompact gauge symmetry in an analogous manner to the Standard Model Higgs mechani…
We introduce a Weyl term into the Einstein-Maxwell-Axion theory in four dimensional spacetime. Up to the first order of the Weyl coupling parameter $γ$, we construct charged black brane solutions without translational invariance in a perturbative manner. Among all the holographic frameworks involving higher derivative gravity, we are the first to obtain metal-insulator transitions (MIT) when varying the system parameters at zero temperature. Furthermore, we study the holographic entanglement entropy (HEE) of strip geometry in this model and find that the second order derivative of HEE with res…
We introduce a new Weyl-invariant and generally-covariant vector-tensor theory with higher derivatives. This theory can be induced by extending the mimetic construction to vector fields of conformal weight four. We demonstrate that in gauge-invariant variables this novel theory reduces to the Henneaux-Teitelboim description of the unimodular gravity. Hence, compared with the standard general relativity, our new higher derivative vector-tensor theory has only one new global degree of freedom - the cosmological constant. Finally we discuss potential extensions of this vector-tensor theory.
We use the novel Higgs mechanism of arXiv:0803.3218 to determine the leading higher-derivative corrections to the Euclidean N = 8 Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson field theory. The result matches that previously found for Lorentzian 3-algebras, pointing to a universal answer for all maximally supersymmetric 3-algebra theories. We also comment on the extension to the lower-supersymmetric case of ABJM theory.
We investigate a locally scale-invariant (that is, Weyl-invariant) theory which describes the coupling of gravity and the standard model from the viewpont of the Higgs mechanism and inflation. It is shown that this theory exhibits a peculiar feature of a coupling between the gauge field and the inflaton in a large field limit whereas it nicely describes the standard model coupled to general relativity in a small field limit. Moreover, we discuss a possibility that this Weyl invariant theory could explain the recent BICEP2 measurement by deforming the potential term in an appropriate way, and f…
We study a system of $n$ Abelian vector fields coupled to $\frac 12 n(n+1)$ complex scalars parametrising the Hermitian symmetric space $\mathsf{Sp}(2n, {\mathbb R})/ \mathsf{U}(n)$. This model is Weyl invariant and possesses the maximal non-compact duality group $\mathsf{Sp}(2n, {\mathbb R})$. Although both symmetries are anomalous in the quantum theory, they should be respected by the logarithmic divergent term (the ``induced action'') of the effective action obtained by integrating out the vector fields. We compute this induced action and demonstrate its Weyl and $\mathsf{Sp}(2n, {\mathbb R…
Models with higher order derivative terms in the kinetic energy appear not only as effective theories, they can be considered as elementary, renormalizable models in their own right. The extension of Higgs mechanism is discussed for Yang-Mills-Higgs models where the kinetic energy of the scalar field contains higher order derivatives. The connection term of the covariant derivatives generates a local potential for the gauge field in the phase with spontaneously broken global gauge symmetry which may break Lorentz symmetry in the vacuum. Relativistic, massless gauge bosons spectrum is found for…
We propose a recipe - arguably the simplest - to compute the holographic type-B Weyl anomaly for general higher-derivative gravity in asymptotically AdS spacetimes. In 5 and 7 dimensions we identify a suitable basis of curvature invariants that allows to read off easily, without any further computation, the Weyl anomaly coefficients of the dual CFT. We tabulate the contributions from quadratic, cubic and quartic purely algebraic curvature invariants and also from terms involving derivatives of the curvature. We provide few examples, where the anomaly coefficients have been obtained by other me…
In this letter we show that there is a unique non-minimal derivative coupling of the Standard Model Higgs boson to gravity such that: it propagates no more degrees of freedom than General Relativity sourced by a scalar field, reproduces a successful inflating background within the Standard Model Higgs parameters and, finally, does not suffer from dangerous quantum corrections.
We revisit the issue that the Noether current associated with a local scale symmtery, or equivalently the Weyl symmetry, identically vanishes. Based on only the second Noether theorem for a local symmetry, we prove that the Noether current associated with the Weyl symmetry is in general vanishing in any Weyl invariant gravitational theories in four dimensional Riemannian geometry. We also clarify the reason: The Weyl transformation is non-dynamical in the sense that it does not contain the derivative term of the transformation parameter as opposed to the conventional gauge transformation. Fina…
The standard model is a remarkably consistent and complete quantum field theory but its coupling to gravity and the Higgs field remain problematic, as reflected in the cosmological constant problem, the Weyl anomaly, and the hierarchy puzzle. We point out that 36 conformally-coupled dimension-zero scalar fields can simultaneously cancel the vacuum energy and both terms in the Weyl anomaly, if the Higgs field is emergent. The cancellation is highly non-trivial: given the standard model gauge group $SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1)$, it requires precisely $48$ Weyl fermions, {\it i.e.}, three genera…
We construct a higher derivative theory involving an axionic field and the Weyl tensor in four dimensional spacetime. Up to the first order of the coupling parameters, the charged black brane solution with momentum dissipation in a perturbative manner is constructed. Metal-insulator transitions are implemented when varying the system parameters at zero temperature. Also, we study the transports including DC conductivity and optical conductivity at zero charge density. We observe the exact particle-vortex duality for some specific momentum dissipation strength.
Conformal fields in flat space-time of even dimension greater than or equal to four are studied. Second-derivative formulation for spin 0,1,2 conformal bosonic fields and first-derivative formulation for spin 1/2,3/2 conformal fermionic fields are developed. For the spin 1,3/2,2 conformal fields, we obtain gauge invariant Lagrangians and the corresponding gauge transformations. Gauge symmetries are realized by involving Stueckelberg fields and auxiliary fields. Realization of global conformal boost symmetries is obtained. Modified Lorentz and de Donder gauge conditions are introduced. Ordinary…
We construct a holographic SU(2) p-wave superconductor model with Weyl corrections. The high derivative (HD) terms do not seem to spoil the generation of the p-wave superconducting phase. We mainly study the properties of AC conductivity, which is absent in holographic SU(2) p-wave superconductor with Weyl corrections. The conductivities in superconducting phase exhibit obvious anisotropic behaviors. Along $y$ direction, the conductivity $σ_{yy}$ is similar to that of holographic s-wave superconductor. The superconducting energy gap exhibits a wide extension. For the conductivity $σ_{xx}$ alon…
A new method for the construction of conformally invariant equations in an arbitrary four dimensional (pseudo-) Riemannian space is presented. This method uses the Weyl geometry as a tool and exploits the natural conformal invariance we can build in the framework of this geometry. Indeed, working in a Weyl space, using the Weyl covariant derivative and the intrinsic Weylian geometrical tensors, all conformally homogeneous operators will be conformally invariant, as will the equations they determine. A Weyl space is defined by two independent objects: the metric tensor $g_{μν}$ and the Weyl vec…
We classify all the six derivative Lagrangians of gravity, whose traced field equations are of second or third order, in arbitrary dimensions. In the former case, the Lagrangian in dimensions greater than six, reduces to an arbitrary linear combination of the six dimensional Euler density and the two linearly independent cubic Weyl invariants. In five dimensions, besides the independent cubic Weyl invariant, we obtain an interesting cubic combination, whose field equations for static spherically symmetric spacetimes are of second order. In the later case, in arbitrary dimensions we obtain two …
We discuss the physics of {\it restricted Weyl invariance}, a symmetry of dimensionless actions in four dimensional curved space time. When we study a scalar field nonminimally coupled to gravity with Weyl(conformal) weight of $-1$ (i.e. scalar field with the usual two-derivative kinetic term), we find that dimensionless terms are either fully Weyl invariant or are Weyl invariant if the conformal factor $Ω(x)$ obeys the condition $g^{μν}\nabla_μ\nabla_νΩ=0$. We refer to the latter as {\it restricted Weyl invariance}. We show that all the dimensionless geometric terms such as $R^2$, $R_{μν}R^{μ…
We investigate the AdS/CFT correspondence for higher-derivative gravity systems, and develop a formalism in which the generating functional of the boundary field theory is given as a functional that depends only on the boundary values of bulk fields. We also derive a Hamilton-Jacobi-like equation that uniquely determines the generating functional, and give an algorithm calculating the Weyl anomaly. Using the expected duality between a higher-derivative gravity system and N=2 superconformal field theory in four dimensions, we demonstrate that the resulting Weyl anomaly is consistent with the fi…
Motivated by the stringy effects by modifying the local kinetic term of an Abelian Higgs field by the Gaussian kinetic term we show that the Higgs field does not possess any instability, the Yukawa coupling between the scalar and the fermion, the gauge coupling, and the self interaction of the Higgs yields exponentially suppressed running at high energies, showing that such class of theory never suffers from vacuum instability. We briefly discuss its implications for the early Universe cosmology.
We propose an inflationary scenario based on the concurrent presence of non-minimal coupling (NMC) and generalized non-minimal derivative coupling (GNMDC), in the context of Higgs inflation. The combined construction maintains the advantages of the individual scenarios without sharing their disadvantages. In particular, a long inflationary phase can be easily achieved due to the gravitational friction effect owed to the GNMDC, without leading to trans-Planckian values and unitarity violation. Additionally, the tensor-to-scalar ratio remains to low values due to the NMC contribution. Finally, t…
This article is dedicated to the analysis of Weyl symmetry in the context of relativistic hydrodynamics. Here is discussed how this symmetry is properly implemented using the prescription of minimal coupling: $\partial\to \partial +ω\mathcal{A}$. It is shown that this prescription has no problem to deal with curvature since it gives the correct expressions for the commutator of covariant derivatives. In the hydrodynamics the Weyl gauge connection emerges from the degrees of freedom of the fluid: it is a combination of the expansion and entropy gradient. The remaining degrees of the fluid and t…
We study the properties of a single magnetic vortex and magnetic vortex lattices in a generalization of the Abelian Higgs model containing the simplest derivative interaction that preserves the $U(1)$ gauge symmetry of the original model. The paper is motivated by the study of finite isospin chiral perturbation theory in a uniform, external : since pions are Goldstone bosons of QCD (due to chiral symmetry breaking by the QCD vacuum), they interact through momentum dependent terms. We introduce a uniform external magnetic field and find the asymptotic properties of single vortex solutions and c…
We study higher--derivative supergravity with curvature squared terms in different bases. Performing a Weyl rescaling only on the metric or on all the superfield components does not allow to obtain a normalized kinetic Einstein term from a $\cR+\cR^2$ theory. It is necessary to combine a Legendre transformation and a Weyl rescaling on a $\cR+\cR^2$ theory to arrive at a theory of supergravity coupled to matter. This mechanism is applied to supergravity coupled to a general function $k(R,\BR,Φ,\barΦ)$, where $R$ is one of the supergravity chiral superfields and $Φ$ a chiral matter superfield.
The cosmological term prevents perturbation based on derivative expansion in Einstein gravity. We consider quantum theory of gravitation invariant under volume-preserving diffeomorphism and Weyl transformation, which is suitable for derivative expansion.
The Weyl-Weinberg-Salam model is presented. It is based on the local conformal gauge symmetry. The model identifies the Higgs scalar field in SM with the Penrose-Chernikov-Tagirov scalar field of the conformal theory of gravity. Higgs mechanism for generation of particle masses is replaced by the originated in Weyl's ideas conformal gauge scale fixing. Scalar field is no longer a dynamical field of the model and does not lead to quantum particle-like excitations that could be observed in HE experiments. Cosmological constant is naturally generated by the scalar quadric term. The model admits W…
We present a systematic approach to finding Higgs vacuum expectation values, which break a symmetry G to differently embedded isomorphic copies of a subgroup $H \subset G$ . We give an explicit formula for recovering each point in the vacuum manifold of a Higgs field which breaks G -> H. In particular we systematically identify the vacuum manifold G/H with linear combinations of the vacuum expectation values breaking G -> H_1 -> ... -> H_l. We focus on the most applicable case for current work on grand unified theories in extra dimensional models and low-energy effective theories for quantum c…
In this letter we calculate the full Higgs-Dilaton action describing the Weyl anomaly using the bosonic spectral action. This completes the work we started in our previous paper (JHEP 1110 (2011) 001). We also clarify some issues related to the dilaton and its role as collective modes of fermions under bosonization.
