DYNAMICAL ELECTROWEAK SYMMETRY BREAKING
AND THE TOP QUARK
R. Sekhar Chivukula
DepartmentofPhysics, Boston University
590 Commonwealth Ave., Boston MA 02215
E-mail: [email protected]
Talk presented at the SLACTopical Workshop
Stanford, July 19-21, 1995
BUHEP-95-23 & hep-ph/9509384
ABSTRACT
In this talk, I discuss theories of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking, with
emphasis on the implications of a heavy top-quark on the weak-interaction pa-
rameter.
1
AN ABBREVIATED VERSION OF THIS TALK WAS PRESENTED AT THE WORKSHOP ON TOP
QUARK PHYSICS,IOWASTATE UNIVERSITY, AMES, IA, MAY 25-26, 1995 AND THE YUKAWA IN-
TERNATIONAL SEMINAR `95, YUKAWA INSTITUTE, KYOTO, AUG. 21-25, 1995.
1 What's Wrong with the Standard Mo del?
In the standard one-doublet Higgs mo del, one intro duces a fundamental scalar doublet of
SU 2 :
W
!
+
; 1.1 =
0
which has a p otential of the form
!
2
2
v
y
V = : 1.2
2
2
In the p otential, v is assumed to b e p ositive in order to favor the generation of a nonzero vac-
uum exp ectation value for . This vacuum exp ectation value breaks the electroweak symmetry,
giving mass to the W and Z .
This explanation of electroweak symmetry breaking is unsatisfactory for a numb er of reasons.
For one thing, this mo del do es not give a dynamical explanation of electroweak symmetry
breaking. For another, when emb edded in theories with additional dynamics at higher energy
2
scales, these theories are technically unnatural.
Perhaps most unsatisfactory,however, is that theories of fundamental scalars are probably
3
\trivial," i.e., it is not p ossible to construct an interacting theory of scalars in four dimensions
that is valid to arbitrarily short-distance scales. In quantum eld theories, uctuations in the
vacuum screen charge|the vacuum acts as a dielectric medium. Therefore, there is an e ective
coupling constant which dep ends on the energy scale at which it is measured. The variation
of the coupling with scale is summarized by the {function of the theory
d
= : 1.3
d
The only coupling in the Higgs sector of the Standard Mo del is the Higgs self-coupling .In
p erturbation theory, the -function is calculated to b e
2
3
! = : 1.4
2
2
Using this {function, one can compute the b ehavior of the coupling constant as a function of
the scale. One nds that the coupling at a scale is related to the coupling at some higher
Since these expressions were computed in p erturbation theory, they are only valid when is suciently
4,5
small. For large couplings, wemust rely on nonp erturbative lattice Monte Carlo studies, which show b ehavior
similar to that implied by the p erturbative expressions derived here.
scale by
1 3 1
= + log : 1.5
2
2
In order for the Higgs p otential to b e stable, has to b e p ositive. This implies
1 3
log : 1.6
2
2
Thus, wehave the b ound
2
2
: 1.7
3 log
If this theory is to make sense to arbitrarily short distances, and hence arbitrarily high energies,
we should taketo1 while holding xed at ab out 1 TeV. In this limit, we see that the
b ound on go es to zero. In the continuum limit, this theory is trivial; it is free eld theory.
The theory of a relatively lightweakly coupled Higgs b oson can b e self-consistent toavery
high energy.For example, if the theory is to make sense up to a typical GUT scale energy,
16 6
10 GeV, then the Higgs b oson mass has to b e less than ab out 170 GeV. In this sense, although
a theory with a light Higgs b oson do es not really answer any of the interesting questions e.g.,
it do es not explain why SU 2 U 1 breaking o ccurs, the theory do es manage to p ostp one
W Y
the issue up to higher energies.
2 Dynamical Electroweak Symmetry Breaking
2.1 Technicolor
7
Technicolor theories strive to explain electroweak symmetry breaking in terms of physics op er-
ating at an energy scale of order a TeV. In technicolor theories, electroweak symmetry breaking
is the result of chiral symmetry breaking in an asymptotically-free, strongly-interacting gauge
theory with massless fermions. Unlike theories with fundamental scalars, these theories are
technically natural: just as the scale arises in QCD by dimensional transmutation, so
QC D
to o do es the weak scale v in technicolor theories. Accordingly, it can b e exp onentially smaller
than the GUT or Planck scales. Furthermore, asymptotically-free non-Ab elian gauge theories
may b e fully consistent quantum eld theories.
7
In the simplest theory, one intro duces the doublet of new massless fermions
1 0
U
A @
U ;D 2.8 =
R R L
D L
which are N 's of a technicolor gauge group SU N . In the absence of electroweak interac-
TC
tions, the Lagrangian for this theory may b e written
L = U iDU/ + U iDU/ + 2.9
L L R R
D iDD/ + D iDD/ 2.10
L L R R
and thus has an SU 2 SU 2 chiral symmetry. In analogy with QCD, we exp ect that
L R
when technicolor b ecomes strong,
hU U i = hD D i6=0; 2.11
L R L R
which breaks the global chiral symmetry group down to SU 2 , the vector subgroup anal-
L+R
ogous to isospin in QCD.
If weweakly gauge SU 2 U 1, with the left-handed technifermions forming a weak
doublet, and identify hyp ercharge with a symmetry generated by a linear combination of the
T in SU 2 and technifermion numb er, then chiral symmetry breaking will result in the
3 R
electroweak gauge group's breaking down to electromagnetism. The Higgs mechanism then
pro duces the appropriate masses for the W and Z b osons if the F -constant of the technicolor
theory the analog of f in QCD is approximately 246 GeV. The residual SU 2 symmetry
L+R
ensures that, to lowest-order, M = M cos and the weak interaction -parameter equals
W Z W
8
one at tree-level.
2.2 Top-Mo de and Strong-ETC Mo dels
There is also a class of theories in which the scale M of the dynamics resp onsible for all or part
of electroweak symmetry breaking can, in principle, takeanyvalue of order a TeV or greater.
9
These mo dels, inspired by the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio NJL mo del of chiral symmetry breaking
in QCD, involve a strong, but spontaneously broken, noncon ning gauge interaction. Examples
10{14
include top quark condensate and related mo dels, as well as mo dels with strong extended
15
technicolor interactions. When the strength of the e ective four-fermion interaction describing
the broken gauge interactions|i.e. the strength of the extended technicolor interactions in
strong ETC mo dels or the strength of other gauge interactions in top-condensate mo dels|is
adjusted close to the critical value for chiral symmetry breaking, the high-energy dynamics may
play a role in electroweak symmetry breaking without driving the electroweak scale to a value
of order M .
The high-energy dynamics must have the appropriate prop erties in order for it to play a role
16
in electroweak symmetry breaking: If the coupling constants of the high-energy theory are
small, only low-energy dynamics such as technicolor can contribute to electroweak symmetry
breaking. If the coupling constants of the high-energy theory are large and the interactions are
attractive in the appropriate channels, chiral symmetry will b e broken by the high-energy in-
teractions and the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking will b e of order M . If the transition
between these two extremes is continuous, i.e., if the chiral symmetry breaking phase transi-
tion is second order in the high-energy couplings, then it is p ossible to adjust the high-energy
parameters so that the dynamics at scale M can contribute to electroweak symmetry breaking.
The adjustment of the high-energy couplings is a re ection of the ne-tuning required to create
a hierarchy of scales.
What is crucial is that the transition b e at least approximately second order in the high-
energy couplings. If the transition is rst order, then as one adjusts the high-energy couplings,
the scale of chiral symmetry breaking will jump discontinuously from approximately zero at
weak coupling to approximately M at strong coupling. Therefore, if the transition is rst order,
it will generally not b e p ossible to maintain any hierarchybetween the scale of electroweak
symmetry breaking and the scale of the high-energy dynamics.
If the transition is second order and if there is a large hierarchy of scales M 1TeV,
then close to the transition the theory may b e describ ed in terms of a low-energy e ective
Lagrangian with comp osite \Higgs" scalars|the Ginsburg-Landau theory of the chiral phase
transition. However, if there is a large hierarchy, the arguments of triviality given in the rst
section apply to the e ectivelow-energy Ginsburg-Landau theory describing the comp osite
scalars: the e ectivelow-energy theory would b e one which describ es a weakly coupled theory of
almost fundamental scalars, despite the fact that the \fundamental" interactions are strongly
self-coupled!
3 m in Mo dels of Dynamical EWSB
t
In technicolor mo dels, the masses of the ordinary fermions are due to their coupling to the tech-
nifermions, whose chiral-symmetry breaking is resp onsible for electroweak symmetry breaking.
17
This is conventionally assumed to b e due to additional, broken, extended-technicolor ETC
gauge-interactions: UUL R ETC
t t
L R
3.1
which lead to a mass for the top-quark
2
g
m hUU i ; 3.2
t M
ET C
2
M
ET C
where wehave b een careful to note that it is the value of the technifermion condensate renor-
malized at the scale M which is relevant.
ET C
For a QCD-like technicolor, there is no substantial di erence b etween hUUi and
M
ET C
18
hUUi , and we can use naive dimensional analysis to estimate the technifermion con-
TC
densate, arriving at a top-quark mass
2
g
3
m 4F : 3.3
t
2
M
ET C
We can invert this relation to nd the characteristic mass-scale of top-quark mass-generation
3 1
2 2
M 175 GeV F
ET C
: 3.4 1TeV
g 246 GeV m
t
We immediately see that the scale of top-quark mass generation is likely to b e quite low,
unless the value of the technifermion condensate hUU i can b e raised signi cantly ab ove
M
ET C
the value predicted by naive dimensional analysis. The prosp ect of suchalow ETC scale is b oth
tantalizing and problematic. As we will see in the next section, constraints from the deviation
of the weak interaction parameter from one suggest that the scale mayhave to b e larger than
one TeV.
There have b een two approaches to enhance the technifermion condensates whichhave b een
19 15
discussed in the literature: \walking" and \strong-ETC". In a walking theory, one arranges
for the technicolor coupling constant to b e approximately constant and large over some range
of momenta. The maximum enhancement that one might exp ect in this scenario is
TC
M
ET C
; 3.5 hUU i hUUi
M
ET C TC
TC
where is the anomalous dimension of the technifermion mass op erator which is p ossibly
TC
as large as one. As describ ed ab ove, however, we exp ect that M cannot b e to o much higher
ET C
than , and therefore that the enhancement due to walking is not sucient to reconcile the
TC
top-quark mass and an ETC scale higher than a TeV.
0.8
0.7
g =0
0.6
g =0:6g
0.5
C
0.4
g =0:9g
C
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
20
Figure 1: Plot of technifermion self energy vs. momentum b oth measured in TeV, as
predicted by the gap-equation in the rainbow approximation, for various strengths of the ETC
coupling relative to their critical value g .
C
The strong-ETC alternative is p otentially more promising. As the size of the ETC coupling
at the ETC scale approaches the critical value for chiral symmetry breaking, it is p ossible to
enhance the running technifermion self-energy k at large momenta see Fig. 1. Since the
technifermion condensate is related to the trace of the fermion propagator.
Z
2
M
ET C
2
hUUi / dk k ; 3.6
M
ET C
y
a slowly-falling running-mass translates to an enhanced condensate.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a free lunch. As we see from Fig. 2, the enhancement
of the technifermion self-energy in strong-ETC theories comes at the cost of a \ ne-tuning"
of the strength of the ETC coupling relative to the critical value where the ETC interactions
would, in and of themselves, generate chiral symmetry breaking. In the context of the NJL
approximation, we nd that enhancement of the top quark mass is directly related to the
y
More physically, in terms of the relevantlow-energy theory, it can b e shown that the enhancement of the
16,21
top-quark mass is due to the dynamical generation of a light scalar state.
300
250
200
150
M =10GeV
ET C
100 M = 100GeV
ET C
50
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
20
Figure 2: Plot of top mass in GeV vs. ETC coupling g=g in , as predicted by gap-
C
equation in the rainbow approximation, for ETC scales of 10 and 100 TeV.
severity of this adjustment. In particular, if we denote the critical value of the ETC coupling
9
by g , in the NJL approximation, we nd
C
2
hUUi g
TC
3.7
2
hUU i g
M
c
ET C
2 2 2
where g g g .
C
4
The physics which are resp onsible for top-quark mass generation must violate custo dial SU 2
since, after all, these physics must give rise to the disparate top- and b ottom-quark masses.
The danger is that this isospin violation will \leak" into the W and Z gauge-b oson masses and
give rise to a deviation of the weak interaction -parameter from one.
4.1 Direct Contributions
22
As emphasized by App elquist, Bowick, Cohler, and Hauser, ETC op erators which violate
custo dial isospin bytwo units I = 2 are particularly dangerous. Denoting the right-handed
technifermion doublet by , consider the op erator
R
2