Electroweak Symmetry Breaking

Conveners: D. Rainwater, DESY - Y. K. Kim, Univ. Chicago

ABSTRACT

A SM and an MSSM Higgs sector are both quite well understood, both from the theoretical viewpoint and in terms of preparation for experimenters to study at the current and next generation of colliders. Several shortcomings in our readiness for these cases do exist, which we will highlight and encourage study on. But the broader and more aggressive goal of the group will be to explore beyond the standard SM and MSSM modes of thinking. We are especially interested in new ideas, and in studying more thoroughly the viability and phenomenology of various proposed non-SM/MSSM scenarios. Are the collider experiments really prepared to cover many of these cases? How far can we go in distinguishing them? What implications would some of these ideas have on physics outside the EWSB sector? In what scenarios can the Tevatron observe EWSB before the LHC era begins?

PLANNED AGENDA TOPICS

Some specific topics to be included are:

1. EW precision data fits and how they change in the presence of new physics.
2. NMSSM Higgs sector: solving the mu problem; phenomenology.
3. Little Higgs scenarios: what's possible, motivated and allowed; exploring the phenomenology.
4. Extra-D scenarios (orbifold symmetry breaking, radions, etc.).
5. Dynamical EWSB - from theory to phenomenology, including what happens if no new resonances are observed - what can collider experiments still determine?
6. Higgs triplets: are some GUT-motivated scenarios still allowed? Of the allowed models, what can we observe?
7. Possible CP violation in a Higgs sector.
8. EWSB potentials: theoretical aspects and experimental study - can we ever really measure all the relevant parameters?
9. What sorts of experiments do we need to fully determine the nature of EWSB?

Necessarily included in these is the overarching question, what do experimentalists need from theorists to search for these scenarios? Many other broad questions also remain. Can we ever hope to connect EWSB to other puzzles in physics, such as flavor? Is there a link to dark matter and cosmology?

Invited talks will cover at least the topics mentioned above. Our discussion sessions will delve deeper into these issues, hopefully raising other interesting topics along the way.

Attendees who are interested in presenting their work in the EWSB session: please submit an abstract for a 20' talk to the conveners (ykkim@hep.uchicago.edu,rain@mail.desy.de). The number of additional talks will be very limited, to allow ample time for discussion sessions and to encourage the participants to do/start new work. Preference will be given to work which is not yet (or only very recently) published, and which has not been widely discussed at conferences; and, of course, to new work done at the workshop.

SCHEDULE