Traditionally, Quantum Field Theory (QFT) treats particle excitations as point-like objects, which is the source of ubiquitous divergences. We demonstrate that a minimal modification of QFT with finite volume particles may cure QFT of divergences and illuminate the physics behind the mathematical construct of our theories. The method allows for a non-perturbative treatment of the free field and self-interacting theories (though extensions to all interacting field theories might be possible). In particular, non-perturbatively defined mass is finite. When applied to the standard model Higgs mechanism, the method implies that a finite range of parameters allows for creation of a well defined Higgs particle, whose Compton wavelength is larger than its physical size, in the broken symmetry phase (as small oscillations around the vacuum). This has profound consequences for Higgs production at the LHC. The parameter range in which the Higgs excitation with the mass of 125 GeV behaves as a proper particle is very restricted.
We discuss the off-shell renormalization properties of the abelian Higgs model in the unitary gauge. The model is not renormalizable according to the usual power counting rules. In this paper, however, we show that with a proper choice of interpolating fields for the massive photon and the Higgs particle, their off-shell Green functions can be renormalized. An analysis of the nature of the extra singularities in the unitary gauge is given, and a recipe for the off-shell renormalization is provided.
We study a chiral Yukawa model mimicking the Higgs-top-bottom sector of the standard model. We re-analyze the conventional arguments that relate a lower bound for the Higgs mass with vacuum stability in the light of exact results for the regularized fermion determinant as well as in the framework of the functional renormalization group. In both cases, we find no indication for vacuum instability nor meta-stability induced by top-fluctuations if the cutoff is kept finite but arbitrary. A lower bound for the Higgs mass arises for the class of standard bare potentials of ϕ^4 type from the require…
In the Standard Model with four generations, the two-loop renormalization group equations for the Higgs quartic and Yukawa couplings have a fixed point structure. If the masses of the fourth family are sufficiently heavy, it will contain a natural scale $Λ_{FP}$ in the range of a few TeV to the order of $10^2$ TeV, above which the Higgs quartic and Yukawa couplings become practically constant. We found that around $Λ_{FP}$ the strong Yukawa couplings make it possible for the fourth generation to form bound states, including composite extra Higgs doublets. In this scenario the fourth generation…
We summarize results for local and global properties of the effective potential for the Higgs boson obtained from the functional renormalization group, which allows to describe the effective potential as a function of both scalar field amplitude and RG scale. This sheds light onto the limitations of standard estimates which rely on the identification of the two scales and helps clarifying the origin of a possible property of meta-stability of the Higgs potential. We demonstrate that the inclusion of higher-dimensional operators induced by an underlying theory at a high scale (GUT or Planck sca…
We examine renormalization of Higgs inflation in the context of the full Standard Model. In the fermionic sector of the theory there is a parametrically large top-Goldstone coupling which prevents renormalization of the theory. Using a simplified model with a global U(1) symmetry, a Higgs and a fermion, we show that the one-loop contribution to 4-Goldstone scattering cannot be absorbed in any tree level terms, and hence forbids a consistent renormalization of the theory. Our results apply for large non-minimal Higgs-gravity coupling in the large field regime, and indicate that Higgs inflation …
The off-shell one-loop renormalization of a Higgs effective field theory possessing a scalar potential $\sim\left(Φ^\daggerΦ-\frac{v^2}2\right)^N$ with $N$ arbitrary is presented. This is achieved by renormalizing the theory once reformulated in terms of two auxiliary fields $X_{1,2}$, which, due to the invariance under an extended Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin symmetry, are tightly constrained by functional identities. The latter allow in turn the explicit derivation of the mapping onto the original theory, through which the (divergent) multi-Higgs amplitude are generated in a purely algebraic fa…
We propose an algorithm, based on Algebraic Renormalization, that allows the restoration of Slavnov-Taylor invariance at every order of perturbation expansion for an anomaly-free BRS invariant gauge theory. The counterterms are explicitly constructed in terms of a set of one-particle-irreducible Feynman amplitudes evaluated at zero momentum (and derivatives of them). The approach is here discussed in the case of the abelian Higgs-Kibble model, where the zero momentum limit can be safely performed. The normalization conditions are imposed by means of the Slavnov-Taylor invariants and are chosen…
We study the functional renormalization group flow of a Higgs-Yukawa toy model mimicking the top-Higgs sector of the standard model. This approach allows for treating arbitrary bare couplings. For the class of standard bare potentials of ϕ^4-type at a given ultraviolet cut-off, we show that a finite infrared Higgs mass range emerges naturally from the renormalization group flow itself. Higgs masses outside the resulting bounds cannot be connected to any conceivable set of bare parameters in this standard-model ϕ^4 class. By contrast, more general bare potentials allow to diminish the lower bou…
We have investigated the renormalization group running of the pole mass in the multi-Higgs theory in two different types of the gauge fixing conditions. It turns out that the pole mass when expressed in terms of the Lagrangian parameters, is invariant under the renormalization group with the beta and gamma functions of the symmetric phase.
We perform the complete one-loop renormalization of a general two-Higgs-doublet model. We present all the vertices for this model including the ones in the scalar sector and calculate all the counterterms of the theory.
We match the electroweak chiral Lagrangian with two singlet scalars to the next-to-minimal composite Higgs model with $ SO(6)/SO(5) $ coset structure and extract the scalar divergences to one loop. Assuming the additional scalar to be heavy, we integrate it out and perform a matching to the well-established electroweak chiral Lagrangian with one light Higgs.
In Little Higgs models a collective symmetry prevents the Higgs from acquiring a quadratically divergent mass at one loop. This collective symmetry is broken by weakly gauged interactions. Terms, like Yukawa couplings, that display collective symmetry in the bare Lagrangian are generically renormalized into a sum of terms that do not respect the collective symmetry except possibly at one renormalization point where the couplings are related so that the symmetry is restored. We study here the one loop renormalization of a prototypical example, the Littlest Higgs Model. Some features of the reno…
We calculate renormalization constants Z_H, Z_w, the Higgs and W-boson mass and tadpole counterterms in the on-mass-shell renormalization scheme to two loops in the heavy-Higgs-boson limit m_H >> M_W. Explicit analytic formulae are presented for the two-loop integrals with masses, which are not known in the literature. As an application, the analytic expression for the two-loop leading correction to the fermionic Higgs boson width is obtained.
We consider an Abelian model with a CP-conserving Higgs potential spanned by two complex Higgs fields. The CP invariance of the Higgs potential is then broken explicitly beyond the Born approximation by introducing soft-CP-violating Yukawa interactions. Based on the non-renormalization theorem, we derive the consistency conditions under which a CP-odd counterterm exists and, at the same time, renders the one-loop-induced mixing of a CP-even Higgs boson with a CP-odd Higgs scalar ultra-violet finite. The novel CP-odd tadpole renormalization may then be determined from the minimization constrain…
Employing background-field method and super-heat-kernel expansion, we compute the complete one-loop renormalization of the electroweak chiral Lagrangian with a light Higgs boson. Earlier results from purely scalar fluctuations are confirmed as a special case. We also recover the one-loop renormalization of the conventional Standard Model in the appropriate limit.
The detailed investigation of the Higgs sector at present and future colliders necessitates from the theory side as precise predictions as possible, including higher order corrections. An important ingredient for the computation of higher order corrections is the renormalization of the model parameters and fields. In this paper we complete the renormalization of the 2-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM) Higgs sector launched in a previous contribution with the investigation of the renormalization of the mixing angles $α$ and $β$. Here, we treat the renormalization of the mass parameter $m_{12}^2$ that …
The framework of the electroweak chiral Lagrangian with a light Higgs is extended by an additional scalar and then generalized to N scalars in the Higgs sector. Divergences from scalar fluctuations are renormalized up to one loop using the background field method. The results are crosschecked against the case of one scalar. A subset of the divergences is demonstrated and crosschecked diagrammatically. Together with the complete one-loop renormalization of the electroweak chiral theory with one light Higgs conducted previously, this constitutes a renormalization framework of any pure scalar ext…
We write down the renormalization-group equations for the Yukawa-coupling matrices in a general multi-Higgs-doublet model. We then assume that the matrices of the Yukawa couplings of the various Higgs doublets to right-handed fermions of fixed quantum numbers are all proportional to each other. We demonstrate that, in the case of the two-Higgs-doublet model, this proportionality is preserved by the renormalization-group running only in the cases of the standard type-I, II, X, and Y models. We furthermore show that a similar result holds even when there are more than two Higgs doublets: the Yuk…
The 2-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM) belongs to the simplest extensions of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs sector that are in accordance with theoretical and experimental constraints. In order to be able to properly investigate the experimental Higgs data and, in the long term to distinguish between possible models beyond the SM, precise predictions for the Higgs boson observables have to be made available on the theory side. This requires the inclusion of the higher order corrections. In this work, we investigate in detail the renormalization of the 2HDM, a pre-requisite for the computation of high…
The Next-to-Minimal 2-Higgs-Doublet Model (N2HDM) is an interesting benchmark model for a Higgs sector consisting of two complex doublet and one real singlet fields. Like the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric extension (NMSSM) it features light Higgs bosons that could have escaped discovery due to their singlet admixture. Thereby, the model allows for various different Higgs-to-Higgs decay modes. Contrary to the NMSSM, however, the model is not subject to supersymmetric relations restraining its allowed parameter space and its phenomenology. For the correct determination of the allowed parameter …
The proper renormalization of mixing angles in quantum field theories is a long-standing problem. It is relevant for the renormalization of the quark mixing matrix in the Standard Model and for various mixing scenarios in theories beyond. In this contribution we specifically consider theories with extended scalar sectors. We describe renormalization schemes for mixing angles based on combinations of observables or symmetry requirements such as rigid or background-field gauge invariance and compare their properties to previous approaches such as $\bar{MS}$ schemes. We formulate specific renorma…
We review some results obtained in the context of the Collaborative Research Center/Transregio~9. In particular we discuss three-loop corrections to the Higgs boson mass in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, higher order corrections to Higgs boson production, and the calculations of renormalization group functions and decoupling constants.
Starting from the one-loop divergences we obtained previously, we work out the renormalization of the Higgs-Electroweak Chiral Lagrangian explicitly and in detail. This includes the renormalization of the lowest-order Lagrangian, as well as the decomposition of the remaining divergences into a complete basis of next-to-leading-order counterterms. We provide the list of the corresponding beta functions. We show how our results match the one-loop renormalization of some of the dimension-6 operators in SMEFT. We further point out differences with related work in the literature and discuss them. A…
We derive one- and two-loop renormalization group equations (RGEs) of Higgs-$R^2$ inflation. This model has a non-minimal coupling between the Higgs and the Ricci scalar and a Ricci scalar squared term on top of the standard model. The RGEs derived in this paper are valid as long as the energy scale of interest (in the Einstein frame) is below the Planck scale. We also discuss implications to the inflationary predictions and the electroweak vacuum metastability.
An Aoki-Denner form of the renormalization scheme is suggested for the physical amplitudes in MSSM. The Higgs sector is reparameterized with the mass of the CP odd scalar, and the mass of the heavy CP even one instead of $tanβ$ in our scheme. The counterterms of $tanβ$ is fixed perturbatively on mass shell just within Higgs sector. The counterterms of gauge-scalar mixings are defined with Ward-Takahashi identit ies from scalar-scalar mixings. The effect of the reparameterization is also probed on the radiative correction of the mass of the lightest Higgs.
Known perturbative expressions for the decay rates of 115 GeV Higgs particle into either two gluons or a $b\bar{b}$ pair are shown to exhibit renormalization-scale-($μ$)-dependence that is largely removed via renormalization-group/Pade-approximant estimates of these rates' next order contributions. The extrema in $μ$ characterizing both rates, as determined from fully-known orders of perturbation theory, are very nearly equal to corresponding $μ$-insensitive rates obtained via estimation of their next order contributions, consistent with "minimal-sensitivity" expectations.
We construct asymptotically free renormalization group trajectories for the generic nonabelian Higgs model in four-dimensional spacetime. These ultraviolet-complete trajectories become visible by generalizing the renormalization/boundary conditions in the definition of the correlation functions of the theory. Though they are accessible in a controlled weak-coupling analysis, these trajectories originate from threshold phenomena which are missed in a conventional perturbative analysis relying on the deep Euclidean region. We identify a candidate three-parameter family of renormalization group t…
A gauge- and renormalization-group- invariant approach implemented by the pinch technique is formulated for resonant transitions involving the Higgs boson. The lineshape of the Higgs boson is shown to consist of two distinct and physically meaningful contributions: a process-independent resonant part and a process-dependent non-resonant background, which are separately gauge independent, invariant under the renormalization group, satisfy naive, tree-level Ward identities, and respect the optical and equivalence theorem individually. The former process-independent quantity serves as the natural…
We consider the scalar sector of the effective non-linear electroweak Lagrangian with a light "Higgs" particle, up to four derivatives in the chiral expansion. The complete off-shell renormalization procedure is implemented, including one loop corrections stemming from the leading two-derivative terms, for finite Higgs mass. This determines the complete set of independent chiral invariant scalar counterterms required for consistency; these include bosonic operators often disregarded. Furthermore, new counterterms involving the Higgs particle which are apparently chiral non-invariant are identi…
An updated version is presented of the Fortran code FeynHiggs for the evaluation of the neutral CP-even Higgs sector masses and mixing angles. It differs from the previous version by a modification of the renormalization scheme concerning the treatment of subleading terms at the one-loop level; the two-loop corrections, for which the leading contributions of O(alpha_t alphas) and O(alpha_t^2) are implemented, are not affected by the modified renormalization prescription. Besides stabilizing the Higgs mass calculations and avoiding unphysically large threshold effects, the mass of the lightest …
We perform the renormalization of different types of Two-Higgs-Doublet Models for the calculation of observables at next-to-leading order. In detail, we suggest four different renormalization schemes based on on-shell renormalization conditions as far as possible and on MSbar prescriptions for the remaining field-mixing parameters where no distinguished on-shell condition exists and make contact to existing schemes in the literature. In particular, we treat the tadpole diagrams in different ways and discuss issues of gauge independence and perturbative stability in the considered schemes. The …
General arguments related to ``triviality'' predict that, in the broken phase of $(λΦ^4)_4$ theory, the condensate $<Φ>$ re-scales by a factor $Z_ϕ$ different from the conventional wavefunction-renormalization factor, $Z_{prop}$. Using a lattice simulation in the Ising limit we measure $Z_ϕ=m^2 χ$ from the physical mass and susceptibility and $Z_{prop}$ from the residue of the shifted-field propagator. We find that the two $Z$'s differ, with the difference increasing rapidly as the continuum limit is approached. Since $Z_ϕ$ affects the relation of $<Φ>$ to the Fermi constant it can sizeably af…
The one-loop renormalization of the action for a set Dirac fermions and a set of scalars spanning an arbitrary manifold coupled via Yukawa-like and gauge interactions is presented. The computation is performed with functional methods and in a geometric formalism that preserves at all stages the symmetries of the action. The result is then applied to Higgs effective field theory to obtain the renormalization group evolution. In the Standard Model limit of this EFT the RGE equations collapse into a smaller linearly independent set; this allows to probe the dynamics of the scalar discovered at LH…
The renormalization of vacuum expectation value parameters, such as $v$ in the Standard Model (SM), is an important ingredient in electroweak renormalization, where this issue is connected to the treatment of tadpoles. Tadpole counterterms can be generated in two different ways in the Lagrangian: in the course of parameter renormalization, or alternatively via Higgs field redefinitions. The former typically leads to small corrections originating from tadpoles, but in general suffers from gauge dependences if MSbar renormalization conditions are used for mass parameters. The latter is free from…
We study the one-loop renormalization the standard model with anomalous Higgs couplings ($O(p^2)$) by using the background field method, and provide the whole divergence structure at one loop level. The one-loop divergence structure indicates that, under the quantum corrections, only after taking into account the mass terms of Z bosons ($O(p^2)$) and the whole bosonic sector of the electroweak chiral Lagrangian ($O(p^4)$), can the effective Lagrangian be complete up to $O(p^4)$.
In a recent re-analysis of the Standard Model (SM) beta-function for the effective neutrino mass operator, we found that the previous results were not entirely correct. Therefore, we consider the analogous dimension five operators in a class of Two Higgs Doublet Models (2HDM's) and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). Deriving the renormalization group equations for these effective operators, we confirm the existing result in the case of the MSSM. Some of our 2HDM results are new, while others differ from earlier calculations. This leads to modifications in the renormalization gro…
We study a Higgs inflation model with a running kinetic term, taking account of the renormalization group evolution of relevant coupling constants. Specifically we study two types of the running kinetic Higgs inflation, where the inflaton potential is given by the quadratic or linear term potential in a frame where the Higgs field is canonically normalized. We solve the renormalization group equations at two-loop level and calculate the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio. We find that, even if the renormalization group effects are included, the quadratic inflation is ruled ou…
We compute the renormalization of dimension six Higgs-gauge boson operators that can modify Γ(h -> γγ) at tree-level. Operator mixing is shown to lead to an important modification of new physics effects which has been neglected in past calculations. We also find that the usual formula for the S oblique parameter contribution of these Higgs-gauge boson operators needs additional terms to be consistent with renormalization group evolution. We study the implications of our results for Higgs phenomenology and for new physics models which attempt to explain a deviation in Γ(h -> γγ). We derive a ne…
We compute the scale-dependence of the Planck mass and of the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field using two very different renormalization group methods: a "holographic" procedure based on Einstein's equations in five dimensions with matter confined to a 3-brane, and a "functional" procedure in four dimensions based on a Wilsonian momentum cutoff. Both calculations lead to very similar results, suggesting that the coupled theory approaches a non-trivial fixed point in the ultraviolet.
We analyze the symmetry-breaking patterns of grand unified theories from the point of view of a recently-proposed criterion of renormalization-group naturalness. We perform the analysis on simple non-SUSY SU(5) and SO(10) and SUSY SU(5) GUTs. We find that the naturalness criterion can favor spontaneous-symmetry-breaking in the direction of the smallest of the maximal little groups. Some differences between theories with and without supersymmetry are also emphasized.
We study the renormalization flow of the Higgs potential as a function of both field amplitude and energy scale. This overcomes limitations of conventional techniques that rely, e.g., on an identification of field amplitude and RG scale, or on local field expansions. Using a Higgs-Yukawa model with discrete chiral symmetry as an example, our global flows in field space clarify the origin of possible meta-stabilities, the fate of the pseudo-stable phase, and provide new information about the renormalization of the tunnel barrier. Our results confirm the relaxation of the lower bound for the Hig…
We study the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order resummation for the large $p_T$ Higgs boson production at the LHC in the framework of soft-collinear effective theory. We find that the resummation effects reduce the scale uncertainty significantly and decrease the QCD NLO results by about $11\%$ in the large $p_T$ region. The finite top quark mass effects and the effects of the NNLO singular terms are also discussed.
We discuss the renormalization of mixing angles for theories with extended scalar sectors. Motivated by shortcomings of existing schemes for mixing angles, we review existing renormalization schemes and introduce new ones based on on-shell conditions or symmetry requirements such as rigid or background-field gauge invariance. Considering in particular the renormalization of the mixing angles in the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model and the Higgs-Singlet Extension of the Standard Model, we compare electroweak corrections within these models for a selection of renormalization schemes. As specific examples…
We use renormalization-group methods in effective field theory to improve the theoretical prediction for the cross section for Higgs-boson production at hadron colliders. In addition to soft-gluon resummation at NNNLL, we also resum enhanced contributions of the form (C_Aπα_s)^n, which arise in the analytic continuation of the gluon form factor to time-like momentum transfer. This resummation is achieved by evaluating the matching corrections arising at the Higgs-boson mass scale at a time-like renormalization point μ^2<0, followed by renormalization-group evolution to μ^2>0. We match our resu…
We study the high-temperature phase transitions for the Abelian and $SU(2)$ Higgs models, using the exact renormalization group. The evolution equation for a properly-defined coarse-grained free energy is solved. The phase diagram of the Abelian Higgs model has a region of second-order phase transitions governed by fixed points, for which we calculate critical exponents and crossover curves. It also has a region of first-order phase transitions, which we discuss in terms of the coarse-grained free energy. The $SU(2)$ Higgs model for small Higgs field masses has only first-order phase transitio…
Within the framework of the standard model plus one heavy Higgs triplet, we derive a full set of one-loop renormalization group equations of the neutrino mass matrix and Higgs couplings in both full and effective theories. The explicit RGEs of neutrino masses, flavor mixing angles and CP-violating phases are also obtained, and their non-trivial running behaviors around the Higgs triplet mass threshold are numerically illustrated.
Motivated by models for neutrino masses and lepton mixing, we consider the renormalization of the lepton sector of a general multi-Higgs-doublet Standard Model with an arbitrary number of right-handed neutrino singlets. We propose to make the theory finite by $\overline{\mbox{MS}}$ renormalization of the parameters of the unbroken theory. However, using a general $R_ξ$ gauge, in the explicit one-loop computations of one-point and two-point functions it becomes clear that---in addition---a renormalization of the vacuum expectation values (VEVs) is necessary. Moreover, in order to ensure vanishi…
We consider the effective potential $V$ in the standard model with a single Higgs doublet in the limit that the only mass scale $μ$ present is radiatively generated. Using a technique that has been shown to determine $V$ completely in terms of the renormalization group (RG) functions when using the Coleman-Weinberg (CW) renormalization scheme, we first sum leading-log (LL) contributions to $V$ using the one loop RG functions, associated with five couplings (the top quark Yukawa coupling $x$, the quartic coupling of the Higgs field $y$, the SU(3) gauge coupling $z$, and the $SU(2) \times U(1)$ …
