Is the Higgs Boson Associated with Coleman-Weinberg Dynamical Symmetry Breaking?

The Higgs mechanism may be a quantum phenomenon, i.e., a Coleman-Weinberg potential generated by the explicit breaking of scale symmetry in Feynman loops. We review the relationship of scale symmetry, trace anomalies, and emphasize the role of the renormalization group in determining Coleman- Weinberg potentials. We propose a simple phenomenological model with "maximal visibility" at the LHC containing a "dormant" Higgs doublet (no VEV, coupled to standard model gauge interactions $SU(2)\times U(1)$) with a mass of $\sim 380$ GeV. We discuss the LHC phenomenology and UV challenges of such a model. We also give a schematic model in which new heavy fermions, with masses $\sim 230$ GeV, can drive a Coleman-Weinberg potential at two-loops. The role of the "improved stress tensor" is emphasized, and we propose a non-gravitational term, analogous to the $\theta$-term in QCD, which generates it from a scalar action.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures; v2 adds references and fixes typographical error

Conjecture on the Physical Implications of the Scale Anomaly

Murray Gell-Mann, after co-inventing QCD, recognized the interplay of the scale anomaly, the renormalization group, and the origin of the strong scale, Lambda_{QCD}. I tell a story, then elaborate this concept, and for the sake of discussion, propose a conjecture that the physical world is scale invariant in the classical, \hbar -> 0, limit. This principle has implications for the dimensionality of space-time, the cosmological constant, the weak scale, and Planck scale.Comment: Invited talk delivered at the Santa Fe Institute on the Occasion of the Celebration of the 75th Birthday of Murray Gell-Mann. July 23, 200

Natural Top-Bottom Mass Hierarchy in Composite Higgs Models

We consider composite two-Higgs doublet models based on gauge-Yukawa theories with strongly interacting fermions generating the top-bottom mass hierarchy. The model features a single "universal" Higgs-Yukawa coupling, $g$, which is identified with the top quark $g\equiv g_t \sim \mathcal{O}(1)$. The top-bottom mass hierarchy arises by soft breaking of a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry by a condensate of strongly interacting fermions. A mass splitting between vector-like masses of the confined techni-fermions controls this top-bottom mass hierarchy. This mechanism can be present in a variety of models based on vacuum misalignment. For concreteness, we demonstrate it in a composite two-Higgs scheme.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, 2 table

T-Parity Violation by Anomalies

Little Higgs theories often rely on an internal parity ("T-parity'') to suppress non-standard electroweak effects or to provide a dark matter candidate. We show that such a symmetry is generally broken by anomalies, as described by the Wess-Zumino-Witten term. We study a simple SU(3) x SU(3)/SU(3) Little Higgs scheme where we obtain a minimal form for the topological interactions of a single Higgs field. The results apply to more general models, including [SU(3) x SU(3)/SU(3)]^4, SU(5)/SO(5), and SU(6)/Sp(6).Comment: 17 page

Topological Physics of Little Higgs Bosons

Topological interactions will generally occur in composite Higgs or Little Higgs theories, extra-dimensional gauge theories in which A_5 plays the role of a Higgs boson, and amongst the pNGB's of technicolor. This phenomena arises from the chiral and anomaly structure of the underlying UV completion theory, and/or through chiral delocalization in higher dimensions. These effects are described by a full Wess-Zumino-Witten term involving gauge fields and pNGB's. We give a general discussion of these interactions, some of which may have novel signatures at future colliders, such as the LHC and ILC.Comment: 22 page

Anomalies, Chern-Simons Terms and Chiral Delocalization in Extra Dimensions

Gauge invariant topological interactions, such as the D=5 Chern-Simons terms, are required in models in extra dimensions that split anomaly free representations. The Chern-Simons term is necessary to maintain the overall anomaly cancellations of the theory, but it can have significant, observable, physical effects. The CS-term locks the KK-mode parity to the parity of space-time, leaving a single parity symmetry. It leads to new processes amongst KK-modes, eg, the decay of a KK-mode to a 2-body final state of KK-modes. A formalism for the effective interaction amongst KK-modes is constructed, and the decay of a KK-mode to KK-mode plus zero mode is analyzed as an example. We elaborate the general KK-mode current and anomaly structure of these theories. This includes a detailed study of the triangle diagrams and the associated ``consistent anomalies'' for Weyl spinors on the boundary branes. We also develop the non-abelian formalism. We illustrate this by showing in a simple way how a D=5 Yang-Mills ``quark flavor'' symmetry leads to the D=4 chiral lagrangian of mesons and the quantized Wess-Zumino-Witten term.Comment: 51 pages, 3 figures; Corrected typos, amplified discussio