Triviality pursuit: Can elementary scalar particles exist?
Abstract
Great effort is presently being expended in the search for elementary scalar “Higgs” particles. These particles have yet to be observed. The primary justification for this search is the theoretically elegant Higgs-Kibble mechanism, in which the interactions of elemetary scalars are used to generate gauge boson masses in a quantum field theory. However, strong evidence suggests that at least a pure φ 4 scalar field theory is trivial or noninteracting. Should this triviality persist in more complicated systems such as the standard model of the weak interaction, the motivation for looking for Higgs particles would be seriously undermined. Alternatively, the presence of gauge and fermion fields can rescue a pure scalar theory from triviality. Phenomenological constraints (such as a bounded or even predictable Higgs mass) may then be implied. In this report the evidence for triviality in various field theories is reviewed, and the implications for high energy physics are discussed.
- Publication:
-
Physics Reports
- Pub Date:
- September 1988
- DOI:
- 10.1016/0370-1573(88)90008-7
- Bibcode:
- 1988PhR...167..241C