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Gravity, scale invariance and the hierarchy problem

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  • Published: 03 October 2018
  • Volume 2018, article number 24, (2018)
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Gravity, scale invariance and the hierarchy problem
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  • Mikhail Shaposhnikov1 &
  • Andrey Shkerin1,2 

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A preprint version of the article is available at arXiv.

Abstract

Combining the quantum scale invariance with the absence of new degrees of freedom above the electroweak scale leads to stability of the latter against perturbative quantum corrections. Nevertheless, the hierarchy between the weak and the Planck scales remains unexplained. We argue that this hierarchy can be generated by a non-perturbative effect relating the low energy and the Planck-scale physics. The effect is manifested in the existence of an instanton configuration contributing to the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field. We analyze such configurations in several toy models and in a phenomenologically viable theory encompassing the Standard Model and General Relativity in a scale-invariant way. Dynamical gravity and a non-minimal coupling of it to the Higgs field play a crucial role in the mechanism.

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  1. Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Mikhail Shaposhnikov & Andrey Shkerin

  2. Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary prospect 7a, 117312, Moscow, Russia

    Andrey Shkerin

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  1. Mikhail Shaposhnikov
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ArXiv ePrint: 1804.06376

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Shaposhnikov, M., Shkerin, A. Gravity, scale invariance and the hierarchy problem. J. High Energ. Phys. 2018, 24 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2018)024

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  • Received: 22 April 2018

  • Revised: 22 August 2018

  • Accepted: 24 September 2018

  • Published: 03 October 2018

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2018)024

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Keywords

  • Conformal and W Symmetry
  • Nonperturbative Effects
  • Solitons Monopoles and Instantons
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