Is the Higgs really not as heavy as we thought?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the mass of the Higgs boson and its implications for the electroweak-hierarchy problem and the strong CP problem. Participants explore various theoretical frameworks and philosophical perspectives regarding the concept of naturalness in physics.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants present a novel framework proposed by Raffaele Tito D’Agnolo and Daniele Teresi that addresses both the electroweak-hierarchy problem and the strong CP problem without traditional mechanisms.
  • One participant questions the relevance of the concept of "naturalness," suggesting it does not yield useful insights into the Higgs mass or related problems.
  • Another participant echoes the sentiment that the universe may appear designed, but critiques this view as tautological and lacking explanatory power.
  • A reference is made to a paper by James D. Wells, which argues that the Standard Model does not exhibit a naturalness problem, suggesting that it passes evaluations of fine-tuning across mass thresholds.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing opinions on the significance of naturalness in relation to the Higgs mass, with some arguing it is a meaningful concept while others dismiss it as misguided. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implications of these viewpoints on the understanding of the Higgs boson.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved assumptions regarding the definitions of naturalness and its implications for theoretical physics. The discussion also highlights differing interpretations of the Standard Model's performance in naturalness evaluations.

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TL;DR
Some new considerations of multiverse scenarios during BB.
I am not quite sure whether this is scientifically as interesting as it reads, but I think it is worth a closer look.Raffaele Tito D’Agnolo and Daniele Teresi

Abstract: We present a novel framework to solve simultaneously the electroweak-hierarchy problem and the strong CP problem. A small but finite Higgs vacuum expectation value and a small θ angle are selected after the QCD phase transition, without relying on the Peccei-Quinn mechanism or other traditional solutions. We predict a distinctive pattern of correlated signals at hadronic EDM, fuzzy dark matter, and axion experiments.

Sliding Naturalness: New Solution to the Strong-CP and Electroweak-Hierarchy Problems

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Why Higgs isn't lighter?

Isn't it on a diet? :->
 
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I'm personally of the opinion that "naturalness" is a meaningless concept that doesn't deserve serious scientific consideration and doesn't lead to useful insights (including the "electroweak-hierarchy problem" and "the strong CP problem" which are variations on that theme).

Nature is the way that Nature is and what exists in natural in the non-technical sense.

The presumption that Nature should be otherwise and could possibly be "unnatural" or require more explanation is misguided.
 
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Maybe the universe appears to arise by design because that’s the way it was designed to appear.
 
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Quarker said:
Maybe the universe appears to arise by design because that’s the way it was designed to appear.
The Tautological argument... doesn't seem to be very explanatory.
Though logically legitimate.
 
Section 4 of "Evaluation and Utility of Wilsonian Naturalness" by James D. Wells

https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.06082

argues that there isn't a problem with the mass of the Higgs.

"The summary of this section is that the SM has low fine tunings across matchings of EFTs across its mass thresholds and therefore passes its Naturalness test. There are dozens of non-trivial tests that could have come to a different conclusion. This gives confidence that our primary theory at the present (the SM) does not register as a failure in the Naturalness evaluation with which we plan to asses conjectured theories. This is in contrast to illogically charging the SM with a lethal naturalness problem and then finding new theories that do not. The SM is Natural. Or differently said, the SM does not suffer from Unnaturalness."
 
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