Viability of light-Higgs strongly-coupled scenarios

Abstract

Contrary to what is sometimes stated, the current electroweak precision data easily allow for massive composite resonance states at the natural EW scale, i.e., well over the TeV. The oblique parameters S and T are analyzed by means of an effective Lagrangian that implements the $SU(2)_L\otimes SU(2)_R\to SU(2)_{L+R}$ pattern of electroweak symmetry breaking. They are computed at the one-loop level and incorporating the newly discovered Higgs-like boson and possible spin-1 composite resonances. Imposing a proper ultraviolet behaviour is crucial and allows us to determine S and T at next-to-leading order in terms of a few resonance parameters. Electroweak precision data force the vector and axial-vector states to have masses above the TeV scale and suggest that the W+W- and ZZ couplings to the Higgs-like scalar should be close to the Standard Model value. Our findings are generic: they only rely on symmetry principles and soft requirements on the short-distance properties of the underlying strongly-coupled theory, which are widely satisfied in more specific scenarios.