Inflating to the Weak Scale

Abstract

We present a new solution to the hierarchy problem, where the Higgs mass is at its observed electroweak value because such a patch inflates the most in the early universe. If the Higgs mass depends on a field undergoing quantum fluctuations during inflation, then inflation will fill the universe with the Higgs mass that corresponds to the largest vacuum energy. The hierarchy problem is solved if the maximum vacuum energy occurs for the observed Higgs mass. We demonstrate this notion with a proof-of-principle model containing an axion, a modulus field and the Higgs, and show that inflation can be responsible for the weak scale.

arXiv comment6 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (27)

• The QCD axion, precisely
• The Twin Higgs: Natural Electroweak Breaking from Mirror Symmetry
• Cosmological Relaxation of the Electroweak Scale
• From the Big Bang Theory to the Theory of a Stationary Universe
• A Clockwork Axion
• Cosmological implications of the Higgs mass measurement
• Realizing the relaxion from multiple axions and its UV completion with high scale supersymmetry
• Natural inflation with multiple sub-Planckian axions
• A Clockwork Theory
• Fluctuations of the Gravitational Constant in the Inflationary Brans-Dicke Cosmology
• Nnaturalness
• Stationary Universe
• Electroweak Vacuum (In)Stability in an Inflationary Universe
• Phenomenology of relaxion-Higgs mixing
• Solving the Hierarchy Problem Discretely
• Cosmological Higgs-Axion Interplay for a Naturally Small Electroweak Scale
• Relaxation from particle production
• Probable or Improbable Universe? Correlating Electroweak Vacuum Instability with the Scale of Inflation
• Is the Relaxion an Axion?
• The Hyperbolic Higgs
• Singlet Scalar Top Partners from Accidental Supersymmetry
• Measure Problem for Eternal and Non-Eternal Inflation
• Relaxion: A Landscape Without Anthropics
• The Nelson-Barr Relaxion
• A Dynamical Weak Scale from Inflation
• The Relaxion Measure Problem
• Self-Organized Higgs Criticality

Cited by in corpus (30)

• Primordial Black Holes from Multifield Inflation with Nonminimal Couplings
• Stochastic Inflation at NNLO
• Self-Organised Localisation
• The Selfish Higgs
• Crunching Dilaton, Hidden Naturalness
• Sliding Naturalness
• Sliding Naturalness: Cosmological Selection of the Weak Scale
• Relaxing the Higgs mass and its vacuum energy by living at the top of the potential
• Gauge hierarchy from electroweak vacuum metastability
• Fermion masses, critical behavior and universality
• Higgs Criticality beyond the Standard Model
• The Higgs field and early universe cosmology: a (brief) review
• Cosmological Relaxation through the Dark Axion Portal
• Runaway Relaxion from Finite Density
• Paper-boat relaxion
• The Muon Smasher's Guide
• Fast-Rolling Relaxion
• Attracting the Electroweak Scale to a Tachyonic Trap
• Higgs Squared
• The Stochastic Relaxion
• Cosmological constant: relaxation vs multiverse
• Hubble selection of the weak scale from QCD quantum critical point
• Minimal Electroweak Baryogenesis via Domain Walls
• Hierarchies from Landscape Probability Gradients and Critical Boundaries
• Self-Gravity in Superradiance Clouds: Implications for Binary Dynamics and Observational Prospects
• Lectures on Naturalness, String Landscape and Multiverse
• Gauge hierarchy and metastability from Higgs-driven crunching
• The Forward Physics Facility at the High-Luminosity LHC
• Weak Scale Triggers in the SMEFT
• Probing Quadratically Coupled Ultralight Dark Matter with Pulsar Timing Arrays