Cosmological Selection of a Small Weak Scale from Large Vacuum Energy: A Minimal Approach

Area of Science:

• Cosmology
• Particle Physics
• Quantum Field Theory

Background:

• The hierarchy problem in particle physics refers to the large discrepancy between the electroweak scale and the Planck scale.
• Standard Model extensions are explored to address this fundamental issue.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a minimal cosmological solution to the hierarchy problem.
• To explain the observed smallness of the electroweak scale relative to the cutoff scale.

Main Methods:

• Introducing a light pseudoscalar and an extra Higgs doublet to the Standard Model.
• Considering a landscape of vacua with varying electroweak vacuum expectation values (VEV).
• Utilizing cosmic inflation and vacuum energy domination to explain the electroweak scale.

Main Results:

• A mechanism where regions with maximal vacuum energy dominate the universe during inflation.
• A pseudoscalar potential not requiring the clockwork mechanism, with field values bounded by the decay constant or Planck scale.
• A falsifiable prediction of relationships between Higgs boson masses and couplings.

Conclusions:

• The proposed model offers a robust solution to the hierarchy problem, independent of other parameter variations.
• The pseudoscalar particle can potentially explain the observed dark matter relic density.
• The model provides testable predictions for Higgs boson properties.