Natural fermion mass hierarchy and new signals for the Higgs boson

Abstract

We suggest a novel approach towards resolving the fermion mass hierarchy problem within the framework of the Standard Model. It is shown that the observed masses and mixings can be explained with order one couplings using successive higher dimensional operators involving the SM Higgs doublet field. This scenario predicts flavor-dependent enhancement in the the Higgs boson coupling to the fermions (by a factor of 3 to the b-quark and \tau and by a factor of 5 to \mu relative to the SM). It also predicts flavor changing \bar{t}ch^0 interaction with a strength comparable to that of \bar{b}bh^0. This opens up a new discovery channel for the Higgs boson at the upgraded Tevatron and the LHC through t -> ch^0 or h^0 -> \bar{t}c + \bar{c}t. Additional tests of the framework include D^0-\bar{D^0} mixing which is predicted to be near the current experimental limit and a host of new phenomena associated with flavor physics at the TeV scale.