Higgs-induced screening mechanisms in scalar-tensor theories

Burrage, Clare; Millington, Peter

Abstract

We consider the theory of a light conformally coupled scalar field, that is, one that is coupled directly to the Ricci scalar of the gravitational sector. This theory can be written equivalently as one of a light scalar that is coupled to the Standard Model of particle physics with a particular combination of Higgs‐portal couplings. When the conformal coupling function contains terms that are linear and quadratic in the conformally coupled scalar, we find that the effective mass of the light propagating mode and its coupling to matter fields, obtained after expanding around a minimum of the classical potential, depend on the energy density of the background environment. This is despite the absence of nonlinear terms in the original equation of motion for the light conformally coupled field. Instead, we find that the nonlinearities of the prototype Higgs potential are communicated to the light mode. In this way, we present a novel realization of screening mechanisms, in which light degrees of freedom coupled to the Standard Model are able to avoid experimental constraints through environmental and thin‐shell effects.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 7, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Dec 22, 2023
• Publication Date: 2024-01
• Deposit Date: Mar 25, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 3, 2024
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Print ISSN: 0077-8923
• Electronic ISSN: 1749-6632
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1531
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 95-103
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15092
• Keywords: History and Philosophy of Science; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Neuroscience
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/28994798
• Publisher URL: https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.15092