Black Hole catalyzed Vacuum Decay in the Standard Model

• Applicant: Thomas Steingasser
• Subject Area: Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields ; Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 512630918

All current experimental data hints at the Higgs field not being stable in its current configuration. This allows for the possibility of its decay, which, due to the Higgs' central importance for the very foundations of particle physics, would have severe consequences for the Universe in its entirety. We will investigate the possibility that this process is catalyzed through the Hawking radiation of evaporating black holes. Our central result will be the probability that a black hole causes the decay of the Higgs field within its lifetime. Unless we find that this probability is smaller than one by many orders of magnitude, there would be two possible conclusions. Either only a sufficiently small number of black holes has evaporated so far, or yet unknown physics beyond the reach of all existing accelerators stabilizes the Higgs field. Each of these possibilities would have far reaching consequences for the affected areas of physics. Black holes with sufficiently short lifetimes to have evaporated by now are a side product of many cosmological models, und furthermore offer an attractive explanation for numerous different observations. A stabilization of the Higgs field is, meanwhile, typically connected with scenarios in which the current Standard Modell of particle physics is embedded into more fundamental structures. These cover everything from the existence of a second Higgs-Boson until new interactions and ideas as consequential as supersymmetry. Especially this last connection is of special significance in the light of rapid progress concerning the observation of black holes. If black holes with properties suited for our purpose were to be directly observed, their population could through our result be understood as a direct hint towards important aspects of particle physics far beyond the reach of all realistic accelerators.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. David Kaiser, Ph.D.