We show that the observed primordial perturbations can be entirely sourced by a light spectator scalar field with a quartic potential, akin to the Higgs boson, provided that the field is sufficiently displaced from vacuum during inflation. The framework relies on the indirect modulation of reheating, which is implemented without any direct coupling between the spectator field and the inflaton and does not require non-renormalisable interactions. The scenario gives rise to local non-Gaussianity with $f_{\rm NL}\simeq 5$ as the typical signal. As an example model where the indirect modulation mechanism is realised for the Higgs boson, we study the Standard Model extended with right-handed neutrinos. For the Standard Model running we find, however, that the scenario analysed does not seem to produce the observed perturbation.
William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学物理与天文学院威廉·I·芬理论物理研究所）；Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab（巴黎萨克雷大学）；University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学）
We show that the stochastic evolution of an interacting system of the Higgs and a spectator scalar field naturally gives rise to an enhanced probability of settling down at the electroweak vacuum at the end of inflation. Subsequent destabilization due to parametric resonance between the Higgs and the spectator field can be avoided in a wide parameter range. We further argue that the spectator field can play the role of dark matter.
We propose a new mechanism for producing a Higgs boson mass near 125 GeV within the MSSM. By coupling the MSSM Higgs boson to a set of strongly interacting fields, large corrections to the Higgs quartic coupling are induced. Although the Higgs doublets do not participate in the strong dynamics, they feel the effects of the strongly coupled sector via (semi-)perturbative interactions. These same strong dynamics are also capable of generating the $μ$-term. Additionally, this strong sector is in the conformal window, which drives the couplings to an infrared fixed point and naturally generates mo…
The behaviour of oscillating scalar spectator fields after inflation depends on the thermal background produced by inflaton decay. Resonant decay of the spectator is often blocked by large induced thermal masses. We account for the finite decay width of the inflaton and the protracted build-up of the thermal bath to determine the early evolution of a homogeneous spectator field, σ, coupled to the Higgs Boson, Φ, through the term g^2 σ^2 Φ^2, the only renormalisable coupling of a new scalar to the Standard Model. We find that for very large higgs-spectator coupling g > 10^{-3}, the resonance is…
Even if the Higgs field does not affect the evolution of the background geometry, its massive inhomogeneities induce large-scale gauge fields whose energy density depends on the slow-roll parameters, on the effective scalar mass and, last but not least, on the dimensionless coupling to the space-time curvature. Since the non-Abelian gauge modes are screened, the non-minimal coupling to gravity predominantly affects the evolution of the hypercharge and electromagnetic fields. While in the case of minimal coupling the obtained constraints are immaterial, as soon as the coupling increases beyond …
We show that the dynamics of the Higgs field during inflation is not affected by metric fluctuations if the Higgs is an energetically subdominant light spectator. For Standard Model parameters we find that couplings between Higgs and metric fluctuations are suppressed by $\mathcal{O}(10^{-7})$. They are negligible compared to both pure Higgs terms in the effective potential and the unavoidable non-minimal Higgs coupling to background scalar curvature. The question of the electroweak vacuum instability during high energy scale inflation can therefore be studied consistently using the Jordan fra…
We study the signals for a heavy Higgs boson in the processes $γγ\to WWWW$, $γγ\to WWZZ$ at the photon linear collider. The results are based on the first complete tree level calculation for these reactions. Using a forward ``spectator" $W$ tag, central ``spectator" $W$ veto to suppress backgrounds from transverse $W$, $Z$ production we show that the invariant mass spectrum of central $WW$, $ZZ$ pairs is sensitive to Higgs boson with a mass up to 1~TeV at a 2~TeV linear collider.
We argue that double inflation may occur when a spectator field is non-minimally coupled to gravity. As a concrete example, we study a two-field inflationary model where the initial spectator field is non-minimally coupled to gravity while the initial inflaton field is minimally coupled. The non-minimal coupling results in the growth of the spectator field which, in turn, drives the second stage of inflation in a significant region of parameter space. The isocurvature fluctuations originating from the spectator field source adiabatic ones, and hence the spectator non-minimal coupling can modif…
We propose a new way of studying the Higgs potential at extremely high energies. The Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson, as a light spectator field during inflation in the early Universe, can acquire large field values from its quantum fluctuations which vary among different causal (Hubble) patches. Such a space dependence of the Higgs after the end of inflation leads to space-dependent SM particle masses and hence variable efficiency of reheating, when the inflaton decays to Higgsed SM particles. Inhomogeneous reheating results in (observable) temperature anisotropies. Further, the resulting tem…
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations are used to constrain reheating to Standard Model (SM) particles after a period of inflation. As a light spectator field, the SM Higgs boson acquires large field values from its quantum fluctuations during inflation, gives masses to SM particles that vary from one Hubble patch to another, and thereby produces large density fluctuations. We consider both perturbative and resonant decay of the inflaton to SM particles. For the case of perturbative decay from coherent oscillations of the inflaton after high scale inflation, we find strong constraints…
The search for di-Higgs final states is typically limited at the LHC to the dominant gluon fusion channels, with weak boson fusion only assuming a spectator role. In this work, we demonstrate that when it comes to searches for resonant structures that arise from iso-singlet mixing in the Higgs sector, the weak boson fusion sideline can indeed contribute to winning the discovery game. Extending existing experimental resonance searches by including both contributions is therefore crucial.
We study the dynamics of a spectator Higgs field which stochastically evolves during inflation onto near-critical trajectories on the edge of a runaway instability. We show that its fluctuations do not produce primordial black holes (PBHs) in sufficient abundance to be the dark matter, nor do they produce significant second-order gravitational waves. First we show that the Higgs produces larger fluctuations on CMB scales than on PBH scales, itself a no-go for a viable PBH scenario. Then we track the superhorizon perturbations nonlinearly through reheating using the delta N formalism to show th…
We demonstrate that light spectator fields can source sizeable CMB anisotropies through modulated reheating even in the absence of direct couplings to the inflaton. The effect arises when the phase space of the inflaton decay is modulated by the spectator which generates masses for the decay products. We call the mechanism \textit{indirect modulation} and show that it can source perturbations even four orders of magnitude larger than the observed. Importantly, the indirect mechanism is present in the Standard Model extended with right-handed neutrinos. For a minimally coupled Higgs boson this …
We study the stochastic distribution of spectator fields predicted in different slow-roll inflation backgrounds. Spectator fields have a negligible energy density during inflation but may play an important dynamical role later, even giving rise to primordial density perturbations within our observational horizon today. During de-Sitter expansion there is an equilibrium solution for the spectator field which is often used to estimate the stochastic distribution during slow-roll inflation. However slow roll only requires that the Hubble rate varies slowly compared to the Hubble time, while the t…
We study post-inflationary evolution in $α$-attractor T-models of inflation. We consider the dynamics of both scalar fields present in these models: the inflaton and the spectator, as a negative field-space curvature may lead to geometrical destabilization of the spectator. We perform state-of-the-art lattice simulations with a dedicated numerical code optimized for those models. We corroborate earlier findings that the perturbations of the spectator field are much more unstable than the perturbations of the inflaton field, so the dynamics of early stages of preheating is dominated by the evol…
The single and central diffractive production of the Standard Model Higgs boson is computed using the diffractive factorization formalism, taking into account a parametrization for the Pomeron structure function provided by the H1 Collaboration. We compute the cross sections at NLO accuracy for the gluon fusion process, since it is the leading mechanism for the Higgs boson production. The gap survival probability is also introduced to include the rescattering corrections due to spectator particles present in the interaction. The diffractive ratios are predicted for proton-proton collisions at …
The single diffractive production of the standard model Higgs boson is computed using the diffractive factorization formalism, taking into account a parametrization for the Pomeron structure function provided by the H1 Collaboration. We compute the cross sections at next-to-leading order accuracy for the gluon fusion process, which includes QCD and electroweak corrections. The gap survival probability ($<\!|S|^2\!>$) is also introduced to account for the rescattering corrections due to spectator particles present in the interaction, and to this end we compare two different models for the survi…
We propose a new construction of the supergravity inflation as an UV completion of the Higgs-$R^2$ inflation. In the dual description of $R^2$-supergravity, we show that there appear dual chiral superfields containing the scalaron or sigma field in the Starobinsky inflation, which unitarizes the supersymmetric Higgs inflation with a large non-minimal coupling up to the Planck scale. We find that a successful slow-roll inflation is achievable in the Higgs-sigma field space, but under the condition that higher curvature terms are introduced to cure the tachyonic mass problems for spectator singl…
The top quark may get its mass not from a fundamental scalar but a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio mechanism involving a strongly coupled gauge sector that triggers top-quark condensation. Forbidding a large hierarchy in the gap equation implies that top-quark condensation is a spectator to electroweak symmetry breaking, which must be accomplished mainly by another sector. The properties of the electroweak symmetry breaking scalars are identified. Production mechanisms and decay modes are studied. Unlike the standard model, the scalar degree of freedom most relevant to electroweak symmetry breaking can onl…
We study LHC Higgs signatures from topflavor seesaw realization of electroweak symmetry breaking with a minimal gauge extension SU(2) x SU(2) x U(1). This elegant renormalizable construction singles out top quark sector (instead of all other light fermions) to join the new SU(2) gauge force. It predicts extra vector-like spectator quarks (T, B), new gauge bosons (W', Z'), and a pair of neutral Higgs bosons (h, H). We demonstrate that for the lighter Higgs boson h of mass 125GeV, this model predicts modified Higgs signal rates in h --> γγ, WW*, ZZ* channels via gluon fusions, in h --> tau tau m…
The most conventional mechanism for gravitational waves (gw) production during inflation is the amplification of vacuum metric fluctuations. In this case the gw production can be uniquely related to the inflationary expansion rate $H$. For example, a gw detection close to the present experimental limit (tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \sim 0.1$) would indicate an inflationary expansion rate close to $10^{14} \, {\rm GeV}$. This conclusion, however, would be invalid if the observed gw originated from a different source. We construct and study one of the possible covariant formulations of the mechanis…
Discovery of unexpected properties of the Higgs boson offers an intriguing opportunity of shedding light on some of the most profound puzzles in particle physics. The Beyond Standard Model (BSM) decays of the Higgs boson could reveal new physics in a direct manner. Future electron-positron lepton colliders operating as Higgs factories, including CEPC, FCC-ee and ILC, with the advantages of a clean collider environment and large statistics, could greatly enhance the sensitivity in searching for these BSM decays. In this work, we perform a general study of Higgs exotic decays at future $e^+e^-$ …
Light dark matter (DM) with a large DM-nucleon spin-independent cross section and furthermore proper isospin violation (ISV) $f_n/f_p\approx-0.7$ may provide a way to understand the confusing DM direct detection results. Combing with the stringent astrophysical and collider constraints, we systematically investigate the origin of ISV first via general operator analyses and further via specifying three kinds of (single) mediators: A light $Z'$ from chiral $U(1)_X$, an approximate spectator Higgs doublet (It can explain the $W+jj$ anomaly simultaneously) and color triplets. In addition, although…
We study the details of eternal inflation in the presence of a spectator Higgs field within the framework of the minimal Standard Model. We have recently shown that in the presence of scalar field(s) which allow inflation only within a finite domain of field values, the universe reaches a steady state where the normalized distribution for the field(s) converges to a steady state distribution [1]. In this paper, we analyze this eternal inflation scenario with the renormalized Standard Model Higgs potential, since it also allows inflation in a finite domain, but turns over at high scales due to …
Using 3+1 classical lattice simulations, we follow the symmetry breaking pattern and subsequent non-linear evolution of a spectator field non-minimally coupled to gravity when the post-inflationary dynamics is given in terms of a stiff equation-of-state parameter. We find that the gradient energy density immediately after the transition represents a non-negligible fraction of the total energy budget, steadily growing to equal the kinetic counterpart. This behaviour is reflected on the evolution of the associated equation-of-state parameter, which approaches a universal value $1/3$, independent…
The Dirac nature of the gauginos (and also the Higgsinos) can be realized in $R$-symmetric supersymmetry models. In this class of models, the Dirac bino (or wino) with a small mixture of the Dirac Higgsinos is a good dark matter candidate. When the seesaw mechanism with Higgs triplet superfields is implemented to account for the neutrino masses and mixing, the leptogenesis driven by the heavy triplet decay is shown to produce not only the matter-antimatter asymmetry but also the asymmetric relic density of the Dirac gaugino dark matter. The dark matter mass turns out to be controlled by the Yu…
We consider beyond the standard model embedding of inert Higgs doublet fields. We argue that inert Higgs doublets can arise naturally in grand unified theories where the necessary associated $Z_2$ symmetry can occur automatically. Several examples are discussed.
In this write-up I summarize the main points of our recent work, in which we showed that the large flavor QCD is regarded as a dynamical origin of little Higgs, and that the mass of such a little Higgs becomes actually very small.
The measured values of the Higgs and top masses and of the strong gauge coupling constant point to the near-criticality of the Standard Model, where two vacua at the electroweak and Planck scales are quasi-degenerate. We argue that the criticality is required by the occurrence of an eternal topological inflation induced by the Higgs potential. The role of this inflation is to continuously create sufficiently flat and homogeneous Universe, providing the necessary initial condition for the subsequent slow-roll inflation that generates the density perturbations of the right magnitude. While the c…
We consider a question which curiously had not been properly considered so far: in the standard seesaw model what is the minimum value the mass of a right-handed (RH) neutrino must have for allowing successful leptogenesis via CP-violating decays? To answer this question requires to take into account a number of thermal effects. We show that, for low RH neutrino masses and thanks to these effects, leptogenesis turns out to proceed efficiently from the decay of the Standard Model (SM) scalar doublet components into a RH neutrino and a lepton. Such decays produce the asymmetry at low temperature…
The Higgs particle is a new elementary particle predicted in the Standard Model of the elementary particle physics. It plays a special role in the theory of mass generation of quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons. In this article, theoretical issues on the Higgs mechanism are first discussed, and then experimental prospects on the Higgs particle study at the future collider experiments, LHC and ILC, are reviewed. The Higgs coupling determination is an essential step to establish the mass generation mechanism, which could lead to a deeper understanding of particle physics.
If the Standard Model (SM) Higgs is weakly coupled to the inflationary sector, the Higgs is expected to be universally in the form of a condensate towards the end of inflation. The Higgs decays rapidly after inflation - via non-perturbative effects - into an out-of-equilibrium distribution of SM species, which thermalize soon afterwards. If the post-inflationary equation of state of the universe is stiff, $w \simeq +1$, the SM species eventually dominate the total energy budget. This provides a natural origin for the relativistic thermal plasma of SM species, required for the onset of the `hot…
We show that simple extensions of two Higgs doublet models consisting of new heavy neutrinos and a singly charged Higgs boson singlet can successfully explain the experimental data on muon and electron anomalous magnetic moments thanks to large chirally-enhanced one-loop level contributions. These contributions arise from the large couplings of inverse seesaw neutrinos with singly charged Higgs bosons and right-handed charged leptons. The regions of parameter space satisfying the experimental data on $(g-2)_{e,μ}$ anomalies allow heavy singly charged Higgs boson masses above the TeV scale, pro…
We consider the effect of the Gibbons-Hawking radiation on the inflaton in the situation where it is coupled to a large number of spectator fields. We argue that this will lead to two important effects - a thermal contribution to the potential and a gradual change in parameters in the Lagrangian which results from thermodynamic and energy conservation arguments. We present a scenario of hilltop inflation where the field starts trapped at the origin before slowly experiencing a phase transition during which the field extremely slowly moves towards its zero temperature expectation value. We show…
We construct for the first time a flavor model, based on the smallest discrete symmetry Delta(27) that implements spontaneous CP violation with a complex phase of geometric origin, which can actually reproduce all quark masses and mixing data. We show that its scalar sector has exotic properties that can be tested at the LHC.
The very large K-factor for Higgs-boson production at hadron colliders is shown to result from enhanced perturbative corrections of the form (C_Aπα_s)^n, which arise in the analytic continuation of the gluon form factor to time-like momentum transfer. These terms are resummed to all orders in perturbation theory using the renormalization group. After the resummation, the K-factor for the production of a light Higgs boson at the LHC is reduced to a value close to 1.3.
The standard model of the elementary particles is built on several assumptions. The Higgs is assumed to be a scalar, a boson, with the charges of a fermion (in the fundamental representations of the charge groups). No explanation is offered for the existence of families of fermions -- quarks and leptons-- for the charges of these family members, for the appearance of the Yukawas which take care of fermion properties. The theory explaining the origin of families predicts that several scalar fields with the boson kind of the charges (in the adjoint representations of the charge groups) manifest …
The recent measurement of the Higgs boson mass implies a relatively slow rise of the Standard Model Higgs potential at large scales, and a possible second minimum at even larger scales. Consequently, the Higgs field may develop a large vacuum expectation value during inflation. The relaxation of the Higgs field from its large postinflationary value to the minimum of the effective potential represents an important stage in the evolution of the universe. During this epoch, the time-dependent Higgs condensate can create an effective chemical potential for the lepton number, leading to a generatio…
CMB Test of the Higgs Origin of Dark-Photon Dark Matter
Zhejiang Normal University（浙江师范大学）；Khazar University（阿塞拜疆大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), sez. di Napoli（意大利国家核物理研究所那不勒斯分部）；Scuola Superiore Meridionale（南方高等学院）；Harbin Institute of Technology（哈尔滨工业大学）；University of Tashkent for Applied Sciences（塔什干应用科学大学）；National University of Uzbekistan（乌兹别克斯坦国立大学）
The symmetry breaking of five-dimensional SU(6) GUT is realized by Scherk-Schwarz mechanisms through trivial and pseudo nontrivial orbifold S1/Z2 breakings to produce dimensional deconstruction 5D SU(6) \rightarrow4D SU(6). The latter also induces near-brane weakly-coupled SU(6) Baby Higgs to further break the symmetry into SU(3)C \otimes SU(3)H \otimes U(1)C. The model successfully provides a scenario of the origin of (Little) Higgs from GUT scale, produces the (intermediate and light) Higgs boson with the most preferred range and establishes coupling unification and compactification scale co…
We demonstrate that measurement of tagged structure functions of the deuteron in (e,e'N) semi-inclusive reactions can discriminate between different hypotheses on the origin of the nuclear EMC effect. By choosing extreme backward kinematics for the spectator nucleon to minimize effects from the deuteron wave function and final state interactions, one can isolate the modifications in the structure of the bound nucleon within the impulse approximation. The same reaction can be used to extract the large-x neutron to proton structure function ratio.
Motivated by the naturalness and neutrino mass generation, we study a bilinear R-parity violating supersymmetric scenario with a light Higgsino-like lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). We observe that the LSP dominantly decays to $νh$ in a large part of the parameter space, and thus study the pair production of electroweakinos followed by the decays $\tildeχ^\pm_1\to \tildeχ^0_1 W^{\pm*}$ and $\tildeχ^0_1\to νh$. This leads to an interesting signature of Higgs boson pair production associated with significantly large missing transverse energy which is grossly distinct from the di-Higgs pro…
In spite of the great success of LHC experiments, we do not know whether the discovered "standard model-like" Higgs particle is really what the standard model predicts or a particle some new physics has in its low energy effective theory. Also the long-standing problems concerning the property of Higgs and its interactions are still there, and we still do not have any conclusive argument of the origin of the Higgs itself. In this article we focus on higher-dimensional theories as new physics. First we give a brief review of their representative scenarios and closely related 4-dimensional scena…
We discuss possible realizations of the hypothesis that all the fundamental interactions of the elementary particles should be of gauge type, including the Yukawa and Higgs ones. In the minimal SUSY extension of the standard model, where the quartic Higgs couplings are ``gauged'' through the D-terms, it is also possible to generate radiatively the Yukawa matrices for the light generations, thus expressing them as functions of gauge couplings. The program can also be applied to the SUSY LR model, where the possibility to induce radiatively the mixing angles, can help to make viable the parity s…
We argue that the consistent implementation of the multiple point principle (MPP) in the general non-supersymmetric two Higgs doublet model (2HDM) can lead to a set of approximate global custodial symmetries that ensure CP conservation in the Higgs sector and the absence of flavour changing neutral currents (FCNC) in the considered model. In particular the existence of a large set of degenerate vacua at some high energy scale $Λ$ caused by the MPP can result in approximate U(1) and Z(2) symmetries that suppress FCNC and CP--violating interactions in the 2HDM. We explore the renormalisation gro…
Within 2HDM, sizable deviations of the triple Higgs coupling and the two-photon Higgs width from their SM values can have a common origin. If SM-like scenario for the observed Higgs boson is realized, mentioned deviations can be either visible simultaneously or not observable at the LHC.}
We propose a model in which the Yukawa couplings of Higgs doublets are related to the couplings of the chiral fermions to a scalar leptoquark triplet. This is due to their common origin via mixing with a vector-like family distinguished by a discrete $Z_5$ symmetry, under which only the three chiral families are neutral. The model predicts lepton non-universality in $B$ to $K$ decays, depending on the leptoquark mass, $V_{ts}$ and $m_μ/m_τ$. The model can only consistently explain the anomalies in $R_{K^{(*)}}$ for a leptoquark mass close to the collider lower bound of about $1~\text{TeV}$. Co…
We calculate pi+ pi0 mass difference $Δm_π^2 \equiv m_{π^+}^2 -m_{π^0}^2$ in the Hidden Local Symmetry (HLS) model, based on the Wilsonian matching and Wilsonian renormalization-group equations. Even without a1 meson the result agrees well with the experiment in sharp contrast to the conventional approach where the a1 meson plays a crucial role. For large Nf QCD, there arises a large hierarchy between $Δm_π^2$ and the pi decay constant $F_π^2$, $Δm_π^2/F_π^2 \ll 1$, near the critical point where the chiral symmetry gets restored as the vector manifestation and the HLS model becomes a little Hi…
We investigate a new scenario of the two Higgs doublet model, where the current experimental data for the electroweak rho parameter and those for the Higgs boson couplings can be simultaneously explained. In this scenario, the two Higgs doublet model is supposed to be a low energy effective theory up to a high energy scale $Λ$, above which a fundamental theory should appear. It is assumed that the Higgs potential respects a global symmetry at $Λ$ (the twisted custodial symmetry), which is to be given as a consequence of the global symmetry structure of the fundamental theory above $Λ$. By the …
Although the 125 GeV Higgs boson discovered at the LHC is often heralded as the origin of mass, it may not in fact be the origin of Yukawa couplings. In alternative models, Yukawa couplings may instead arise from a seesaw type mechanism involving the mixing of Standard Model (SM) chiral fermions with new vector-like fermions, controlled by the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of a new complex Higgs singlet field $\langle Φ\rangle$. For example, the largest third family $(t,b)$ quark Yukawa couplings may be forbidden by a $U(1)'$ gauge or global symmetry, broken by $\langle Φ\rangle$, and generat…
Existence of a mirror world in the universe is a fundamental way to restore the observed parity violation in weak interactions and provides the lightest mirror nucleon as a unique GeV-scale dark matter particle candidate. The visible and mirror worlds share the same spacetime of the universe and are connected by a unique space-inversion symmetry -- the mirror parity (P). We conjecture that the mirror parity is respected by the fundamental interaction Lagrangian, and study its spontaneous breaking from minimizing the Higgs vacuum potential. The domain wall problem is resolved by a unique soft b…
