The Higgs Mechanism and Cosmological Constant Today
Irina Dymnikova
Abstract
The Higgs mechanism, as responsible for the first inflation, powers the initial accelerated expansion and further preheating via the symmetry breaking from its false vacuum state corresponding to the Sitter vacuum of the GUT scale with Λ=8πGρΛ, whose decay provides necessary energetic support. Here we address the question of the possibility of symmetry restoration of the Higgs field at the presently observed vacuum scale which would make it responsible for the today value of the cosmological constant λ=8πGρλ. We find the existence of the possibility of symmetry restoration in the minisuperspace model of quantum cosmology and show that λ today must have a non-zero value.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsCosmological constantFalse vacuumHiggs fieldMinisuperspaceHiggs bosonInflation (cosmology)Theoretical physicsVacuum energySymmetry breakingDe Sitter universeVacuum expectation valueSpontaneous symmetry breakingParticle physicsVacuum stateSymmetry (geometry)CosmologyHiggs mechanismQuantum cosmologyQuantumQuantum mechanicsUniverseQuantum gravityMathematicsGeometryCosmology and Gravitation TheoriesParticle physics theoretical and experimental studiesBlack Holes and Theoretical Physics