Unanswered Questions in the Electroweak Theory
Journal Article
·
· Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Sciences
This article is devoted to the status of the electroweak theory on the eve of experimentation at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. A compact summary of the logic and structure of the electroweak theory precedes an examination of what experimental tests have established so far. The outstanding unconfirmed prediction of the electroweak theory is the existence of the Higgs boson, a weakly interacting spin-zero particle that is the agent of electroweak symmetry breaking, the giver of mass to the weak gauge bosons, the quarks, and the leptons. General arguments imply that the Higgs boson or other new physics is required on the TeV energy scale. Indirect constraints from global analyses of electroweak measurements suggest that the mass of the standard-model Higgs boson is less than 200 GeV. Once its mass is assumed, the properties of the Higgs boson follow from the electroweak theory, and these inform the search for the Higgs boson. Alternative mechanisms for electroweak symmetry breaking are reviewed, and the importance of electroweak symmetry breaking is illuminated by considering a world without a specific mechanism to hide the electroweak symmetry. For all its triumphs, the electroweak theory has many shortcomings.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359
- OSTI ID:
- 953709
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-PUB-09-230-T; arXiv eprint number arXiv:0905.3187
- Journal Information:
- Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Sciences, Journal Name: Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Sciences Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 59; ISSN 0163-8998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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