English

Technically Natural Suppression of Fifth Force

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2026-04-23 v1 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Experiment High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

Light scalars generically mediate a fifth force incompatible with local tests of gravity unless their couplings are parametrically suppressed or screening mechanisms are introduced. We demonstrate that such suppression can arise from symmetry. We propose a Z2Z_2-symmetric mirror extension of the Standard Model within a bi-conformal gravity construction, where spontaneous breaking of scale invariance produces a light scalaron as a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson. This scalaron couples to the difference of trace anomalies between the Standard Model and mirror sectors. We find a parameter-independent correlation between the fifth-force strength α\alpha and the scalaron mass mσm_\sigma, with the proportionality set by QCD observables and the electroweak scale. The Standard Model predicts α104\alpha \sim 10^{-4} at meter scales for mσ107m_\sigma \sim 10^{-7} eV, which is directly in the target window of next-generation experiments. In contrast to environmental screening mechanisms, this suppression mechanism follows directly from symmetry rather than nonlinear scalar dynamics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.20292,
  title  = {Technically Natural Suppression of Fifth Force},
  author = {Kensuke Homma and Taishi Katsuragawa and Shinya Matsuzaki},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.20292},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

13 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T12:29:56.011Z