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Updated: Oct 1, 2026

Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
The Higgs boson, naturalness, and the universe
1Basic Sciences, EPFL, Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Rte de la Sorge, Lausanne, VD, 1015, Switzerland.
Abstract:
The Higgs boson -the only known fundamental scalar particle -may have profound implications for both particle physics and cosmology. This review examines how the Higgs field may have influenced the Universe from its earliest moments to its present state. We first discuss particle-physics puzzles, including the naturalness and hierarchy problems, as well as the possible metastability of the electroweak vacuum. We then turn to cosmological scenarios where the Higgs boson could be a driving force, including Higgs inflation, reheating and the onset of the hot Big Bang, the electroweak phase transition, and baryogenesis via electroweak processes.
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