Higgstory repeats itself
Abstract
We consider a scalar potential with two minima, one of which is arbitrarily deep, such as could be the case for the Higgs potential in the Standard Model. A recent calculation within the thin-wall approximation [arXiv:2205.10240] concludes that regions in which the scalar field takes values beyond the top of the potential barrier are forced by gravity to collapse, while they remain hidden behind a black hole horizon. We show that the thin-wall approximation is not applicable to this problem. We clarify the issue through numerical and analytical solutions to the field equations of the gravity-scalar system. We find that regions around the deeper minimum expand, and would thereby engulf the Universe in post-inflationary cosmology. We also show that black holes with Higgs hair are unstable. Even though the physics of the true vacuum is different, our final conclusion replicates the earlier `Higgstory' paper [arXiv:1505.04825].
Cite
@article{arxiv.2207.00299,
title = {Higgstory repeats itself},
author = {Alessandro Strumia and Nikolaos Tetradis},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2207.00299},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
21 pages, 7 figures. Typo in eq. (16) fixed