Espinosa JR. Cosmological implications of Higgs near-criticality.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2018;
376:20170118. [PMID:
29358355 PMCID:
PMC5784028 DOI:
10.1098/rsta.2017.0118]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The Standard Model electroweak (EW) vacuum, in the absence of new physics below the Planck scale, lies very close to the boundary between stability and metastability, with the last option being the most probable. Several cosmological implications of this so-called 'near-criticality' are discussed. In the metastable vacuum case, the main challenges that the survival of the EW vacuum faces during the evolution of the Universe are analysed. In the stable vacuum case, the possibility of implementing Higgs inflation is critically examined.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Higgs cosmology'.
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