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The Gaugephobic Higgs

Giacomo Cacciapaglia, Csaba Csáki, Guido Marandella, John Terning

TL;DR

The paper investigates generalized Randall–Sundrum scenarios with a bulk Higgs whose localization and VEV are tunable, producing a gaugephobic Higgs that can evade standard Higgs searches. A 5D model with bulk SU(2)_L × SU(2)_R × U(1)_X and a Higgs bidoublet yields a VEV profile v(z) governed by beta and a parameter V, allowing a continuum from SM-like to Higgsless behavior while unitarity is shared with KK gauge modes. The phenomenology predicts suppressed Higgs production and altered decays, but also a spectrum of lighter KK resonances (W′, Z′, KK gluons) and exotic fermions that provide alternative discovery channels; two benchmark points illustrate the range of couplings and collider implications. This framework offers a concrete, testable path for naturalness-motivated new physics, guiding LHC searches beyond the conventional Higgs-centric paradigm.

Abstract

We present a class of models that contains Randall-Sundrum and Higgsless models as limiting cases. Over a wide range of the parameter space WW scattering is mainly unitarized by Kaluza-Klein partners of the W and Z, and the Higgs particle has suppressed couplings to the gauge bosons. Such a gaugephobic Higgs can be significantly lighter than the 114 GeV LEP bound for a standard Higgs, or heavier than the theoretical upper bound. These models predict a suppressed single top production rate and unconventional Higgs phenomenology at the LHC: the Higgs production rates will be suppressed and the Higgs branching fractions modified. However, the more difficult the Higgs search at the LHC is, the easier the search for other light resonances (like Z', W', t', exotic fermions) will be.

The Gaugephobic Higgs

TL;DR

The paper investigates generalized Randall–Sundrum scenarios with a bulk Higgs whose localization and VEV are tunable, producing a gaugephobic Higgs that can evade standard Higgs searches. A 5D model with bulk SU(2)_L × SU(2)_R × U(1)_X and a Higgs bidoublet yields a VEV profile v(z) governed by beta and a parameter V, allowing a continuum from SM-like to Higgsless behavior while unitarity is shared with KK gauge modes. The phenomenology predicts suppressed Higgs production and altered decays, but also a spectrum of lighter KK resonances (W′, Z′, KK gluons) and exotic fermions that provide alternative discovery channels; two benchmark points illustrate the range of couplings and collider implications. This framework offers a concrete, testable path for naturalness-motivated new physics, guiding LHC searches beyond the conventional Higgs-centric paradigm.

Abstract

We present a class of models that contains Randall-Sundrum and Higgsless models as limiting cases. Over a wide range of the parameter space WW scattering is mainly unitarized by Kaluza-Klein partners of the W and Z, and the Higgs particle has suppressed couplings to the gauge bosons. Such a gaugephobic Higgs can be significantly lighter than the 114 GeV LEP bound for a standard Higgs, or heavier than the theoretical upper bound. These models predict a suppressed single top production rate and unconventional Higgs phenomenology at the LHC: the Higgs production rates will be suppressed and the Higgs branching fractions modified. However, the more difficult the Higgs search at the LHC is, the easier the search for other light resonances (like Z', W', t', exotic fermions) will be.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 7 sections, 39 equations, 3 figures, 3 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The model
  3. Phenomenology
  4. Conclusions
  5. The Higgs sector
  6. Gauge sector
  7. The fermion sector

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Lines with fixed values (400 Gev, 300 GeV, and 200 GeV) of the inverse size of the extra-dimension $R'$ in the $(V,\beta)$ plane (continuous lines), lines of fixed contribution of the Higgs to $WW$ scattering compared to the SM (dashed lines), and lines of fixed cut-off of the theory due to the top sector becoming non-perturbative (thick gray lines).
  • Figure 2: Suppression of the couplings of various SM fields with the Higgs with respect to the SM values for $\beta = 2$, as a function of $V$.
  • Figure 3: Cross sections times branching ratios for various Higgs production and decay channels for the SM (solid lines) and gaugephobic Higgs (dashed lines) for $\beta =2$ with $V=300$ (top) and $V=500$ (bottom).