Viable range of the mass scale of the standard model

Publication Date

1998

Journal or Book Title

PHYSICAL REVIEW D

Abstract

In theories in which different regions of the universe can have different values of certain physical parameters, we would naturally find ourselves in a region where they take values favorable for life. We explore the range of such viable values of the mass parameter in the Higgs potential, μ2. For μ2<0, the requirement that complex elements be formed suggests that the Higgs vacuum expectation value v must have a magnitude less than 5 times its observed value. For μ2>0, baryon stability requires that |μ|≪MP, the Planck mass. Smaller values of |μ2| may or may not be allowed depending on issues of element synthesis and stellar evolution. We conclude that the observed value of μ2 appears reasonably typical of the viable range, and a multiple-domain scenario may provide a plausible explanation for the closeness of the QCD scale and the weak scale.

Comments

Published version is located at http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v57/i9/p5480_1

Pages

5480-5492

Volume

57

Issue

9

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS