Related papers: Stabilization of the Electroweak String by the Bos…
We study the cosmological constant problem in a three-dimensional N=2 supergravity theory with gauge group SU[2]_{global}xU[1]_{local}. The model we consider is known to admit string-like configurations, the so-called semi-local cosmic…
The measurements of the Higgs boson and top quark masses can be used to extrapolate the Standard Model Higgs potential at energies up to the Planck scale. Adopting a NNLO renormalization procedure, we: i) find that electroweak vacuum…
In the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (the MSSM), the electroweak symmetry is restored as supersymmetry-breaking terms are turned off. We describe a generic extension of the MSSM where the electroweak symmetry is broken in the…
We consider the 1-loop effective potential in type I string theory compactified on a torus, with supersymmetry broken by the Scherk-Schwarz mechanism. At fixed supersymmetry breaking scale M, and up to exponentially suppressed terms, we…
The issue of electroweak vacuum stability is studied in presence of a scalar field which participates in modifying the minimal chaotic inflation model. It is shown that the threshold effect on the Higgs quartic coupling originating from the…
We consider "super no-scale models" in the framework of the heterotic string, where the N=4,2,1 --> 0 spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry is induced by geometrical fluxes realizing a stringy Scherk-Schwarz perturbative mechanism.…
We study the electroweak symmetry breaking in a five dimensional $Sp(6)$ gauge-Higgs unification model where the weak mixing angle is predicted to be $\sin^2 \theta_W=1/4$ at the compactification scale. We find that the correct pattern of…
We study different types of Two Higgs Doublet Models (2HDMs) under the assumption that all quartic couplings' beta functions vanish simultaneously at the Planck scale. The Standard Model seems to display this property almost accidentally,…
Dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking by the Hosotani mechanism in the Randall-Sundrum warped spacetime is examined, relations among the W-boson mass (m_W), the Kaluza-Klein mass scale (M_{KK}), and the Higgs boson mass (m_H) being…
In the standard model, the electroweak Z-string can end on a Nambu monopole, whose mass is calculated to be 689 GeV from the current precise experimental data assuming the new particle with mass 125 GeV to be the Higgs boson. We study an…
We address the question of finding stable and metastable cosmic strings in quasi-realistic heterotic M-theory compactifications with stabilized moduli. According to Polchinski's conjecture, the only stable strings in the absence of massless…
In higher dimensional gauge theory, dynamics of non-Abelian Aharonov-Bohm phases induces gauge symmetry breaking through the Hosotani mechanism. Higgs fields in the four-dimensional spacetime are identified with the extra-dimensional…
We discuss a novel approach to renormalize the Electroweak Sector of the Standard Model, in which \sin^2\theta_{eff}, measured at the Z^0 peak, is identified with the basic renormalized electroweak mixing parameter. This approach shares the…
We present results for the static potential in the confinement phase of the SU(2) Higgs model on the lattice. Introducing a suitable matrix correlation function we observe string breaking at a distance r_b ~ 1.8 r_0, where the length scale…
In the gauge-Higgs unification scenario the Higgs field is unified with gauge fields in higher dimensional gauge theory. The 4D Higgs field $H(x)$ corresponds to 4D fluctuations of the Aharonov-Bohm phase (Wilson line phase) $\theta_H$ in…
We study exact string backgrounds representing a constant magnetic field background in heterotic string theory. These backgrounds are obtained by Kaluza-Klein reduction of a special class of plane wave solutions. For small values of the…
We study the potential of a static quark anti-quark pair in the confinement ``phase'' of the SU(2) Higgs model. Around separation r_b, the confining string of the gauge field breaks by formation of a dynamical pair of light quarks. The…
We demonstrate that from a low energy perspective a viable breaking of the electroweak symmetry, as present in nature, can be achieved without the (negative sign) $\mu^2$ mass term in the Higgs potential, thereby avoiding completely the…
An alternative to the idea of a metastable electroweak vacuum would be an initial restriction to the pure scalar sector of the Standard Model, but describing spontaneous symmetry breaking consistently with studies indicating that there are…
We present, in the context of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, a detailed one-loop analytic study of the minimization conditions of the effective potential in the Higgs sector. Special emphasis is put on the role played by $Str…