Is there an upper limit to fermion masses

Journal Article · Mon Oct 27 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.57.2115· OSTI ID:6994143

Einhorn, M B; Goldberg, G J

A fermion mass generated by spontaneous symmetry breaking is proportional to its Yukawa coupling y to a Higgs field. Like the Higgs-field self-coupling, y may well be trivial and diverge at a finite energy scale ..lambda../sub f/, corresponding to an upper limit on fermion masses. We verify this by solving a simple model by means of a 1/N expansion. Applied to the standard model, this suggests that there is an upper limit to quark and lepton masses. These results have implications for the ''decoupling'' of heavy fermions and bear on the issue of whether apparently ''anomalous'' gauge theories can be consistently quantized.

• Research Organization: NORDITA, Copenhagen, Denmark and Randall Laboratory of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
• OSTI ID: 6994143
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States) Vol. 57:17; ISSN PRLTA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

645400* -- High Energy Physics-- Field Theory
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
COUPLING CONSTANTS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
FUNCTIONS
HIGGS BOSONS
INTERACTIONS
LAGRANGIAN FUNCTION
LATTICE FIELD THEORY
LEPTONS
LIMITING VALUES
MASS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUCLEAR POTENTIAL
PARTICLE MODELS
POSTULATED PARTICLES
POTENTIALS
PROPAGATOR
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
QUARKS
RENORMALIZATION
STANDARD MODEL
STRONG INTERACTIONS
SYMMETRY BREAKING
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
YUKAWA POTENTIAL