2005/03/31 by Alison Demaria, Raymond R. Volkas
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.71.105011
published as Phys.Rev. D71 (2005) 105011 · 12 pages, RevTex, references added
openalex publication_date 2005/05/18 · arxiv created 2005/05/26 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The trinification grand unified theory (GUT) has gauge group SU(3)3 and a discrete symmetry permuting the SU(3) factors. In common with other GUTs, the attractive nature of the fermionic multiplet assignments is obviated by the complicated multiparameter Higgs potential apparently needed for phenomenological reasons, and also by vacuum expectation value (VEV) hierarchies within a given multiplet. This motivates the rigorous consideration of Higgs potentials, symmetry breaking patterns, and alternative symmetry breaking mechanisms in models with this gauge group. Specifically, we study the recently proposed ``clash of symmetries'' brane-world mechanism to see if it can help with the symmetry breaking conundrum. This requires a detailed analysis of Higgs potential global minima and kink or domain wall solutions interpolating between the disconnected global minima created through spontaneous discrete symmetry breaking. Sufficiently long-lived metastable kinks can also be considered. We develop what we think is an interesting, albeit speculative, brane-world scheme whereby the hierarchical symmetry breaking cascade, trinification to left-right symmetry to the standard model to color cross electromagnetism, may be induced without an initial hierarchy in vacuum expectation values. Another motivation for this paper is simply to continue the exploration of the rich class of kinks arising in models that are invariant under both discrete and continuous symmetries.