A rich structure of renormalization group flows for Higgs-like models in 4 dimensions
Abstract
We consider coupled Higgs doublets which transform in the usual way under SU(2). By constructing marginal operators which satisfy an operator product expansion based on the SU(2) Lie algebra, we can obtain a rich pattern of renormalization group (RG) flows which includes lines of fixed points and more interestingly, cyclic RG flows which are unavoidable in this model. The hamiltonian is pseudo-hermitian, with unitary satisfying , thus the model is non-unitary. The hamiltonian still has real eigenvalues, but the non-unitarity is manifested in negative norm states. Based on a generalized optical theorem for pseudo-hermitian hamiltonians, we show that our model is in fact unitary below the threshold for particle/anti-particle pair production. It is thus unitary in the non-relativistic limit, which opens up some potential applications to condensed matter physics. We argue that our model breaks symmetry. Upon spontaneous symmetry breaking, the Higgs-like fields have an infinite number of vacuum expectation values which satisfy ``Russian Doll" scaling where and is the period of one RG cycle which is an RG invariant. We speculate that this Russian Doll RG flow can perhaps resolve the so-called hierarchy problem and may shed light on the origin of ``families" in the Standard Model of particle physics. If after spontaneous symmetry breaking of the SU(2) to U(1) a cyclic RG with period is operative up to the electro-weak scale, then this admits 3 RG cycles, i.e. 3 families of quarks and leptons. The strongest constraints on the RG period comes from the phenomenological Koide formula, wherein .
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2411.07476,
title = {A rich structure of renormalization group flows for Higgs-like models in 4 dimensions},
author = {André LeClair},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.07476},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
Current version: We added a discussion of the Koide phenomenological formula