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We explore the phenomenology of Weinberg's $Z_2\times Z_2$ symmetric three-Higgs-doublet potential, allowing for spontaneous violation of CP due to complex vacuum expectation values. An overview of all possible ways of satisfying the stationary-point conditions is given, with one, two or three non-vanishing vacuum expectation values, together with conditions for CP conservation in terms of basis invariants. All possible ways of satisfying the conditions for CP conservation are given. Scans of allowed parameter regions are given, together with measures of CP violation, in terms of the invariants. The light states identified in an earlier paper are further explored in terms of their CP-violating couplings. Loop-induced CP violation in $WWZ$ couplings, as well as charge-asymmetric scattering are also commented on., Comment: 45 pages, 19 figures

The Two Higgs Doublet Model invariant under the gauge group SU(2)xU(1) is known to have six additional global discrete or continuous symmetries of its scalar sector. We have discovered regions of parameter space of the model which are basis and renormalization group invariant to all orders of perturbation theory in the scalar and gauge sectors, but correspond to none of the hitherto considered symmetries. We therefore identify seven new symmetries of the model and discuss their phenomenology. Soft symmetry breaking is required for some of these models so that electroweak symmetry breaking can occur. We show that, at least at the two-loop level, it is possible to extend some of these symmetries to include fermions., Comment: 46 pages, minor changes, references added

CP violation plays a very important role in nature with implications both for Particle Physics and for Cosmology. Accounting for the observed matter anti-matter asymmetry of the Universe requires the existence of new sources of CP violation beyond the Standard Model. In models with an extended scalar sector CP violation can emerge either explicitly, i.e., at the Lagrangian level, or spontaneously. In the context of multi-Higgs extensions of the Standard Model imposing the existence of a scalar basis where all couplings are real is a sufficient condition for CP to be explicitly conserved. We discuss a three-Higgs-doublet model with an underlying $S_3$ symmetry, allowing in principle for complex couplings. In this framework it is possible to have either spontaneous or explicit CP violation in the scalar sector, depending on the regions of parameter space corresponding to the different possible vacua of the $S_3$ symmetric potential. We list all possible vacuum structures allowing for CP violation in the scalar sector specifying whether it can be explicit or spontaneous. It is by now established that CP is violated in the flavour sector and that the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix is complex. In order to understand what are the possible sources of CP violation in the Yukawa sector we analyse the implications of the different available choices of representations for the quarks under the $S_3$ group. This classification is based strictly on the exact $S_3$-symmetric scalar potential with no soft symmetry breaking terms. The scalar sector of one such model was explored numerically. After applying the theoretical and the most important experimental constraints the available parameter space is shown to be able to give rise to light neutral scalars at the $\mathcal{O}(\text{MeV})$ scale., Comment: 42 pages, 2 figures, V2: version consistent with JHEP

Models with an extended scalar electroweak sector are well motivated. Such models could accommodate a dark matter candidate if there is an additional scalar representation with a vanishing vacuum expectation value and, in addition, there are no couplings between fermions and the dark matter candidate. The most natural way to have these conditions implemented is to consider models where an underlying symmetry is imposed. Governed by this, we consider a three-Higgs-doublet model with an $S_3$ symmetry. Within this framework there are different implementations which could possibly accommodate a dark matter candidate. The family of $S_3$-symmetric three-Higgs-doublet implementations arises due to different vacua and, as a result, different minimisation conditions. In this framework the dark matter candidate falls into the class of weakly interacting massive particles. The dark matter candidate is associated with an $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry which survives spontaneous symmetry breaking and is a remnant of the $S_3$ symmetry. We explore two cases, they share many aspects of the Type-I two-Higgs-doublet model plus an inert SU(2) doublet. The main difference between these two cases is the presence of an irremovable phase, which leads to CP violation in one of the implementations. The two candidate cases differ from other previously studied models with three scalar doublets by the fact that they do not allow for heavy dark matter candidates, $\mathcal{O}(500)\text{ GeV}$. Valid dark matter regions were identified as $m_\mathrm{DM} \in [52.5,\,89]~\text{GeV}$ for a model without CP violation and $m_\mathrm{DM} \in [6.5,\,44.5]~\text{GeV}$ for a model with CP violation. In the present work we refine the parameter space by applying additional checks to our previous work coming from LHC data and from indirect detection data., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of DISCRETE 2022: 8th Symposium on Prospects in the Physics of Discrete Symmetries, 7-11 November, 2022, Baden-Baden, Germany

The $\mathbb Z_2\times \mathbb Z_2$-symmetric 3HDM potential, sometimes called Weinberg's 3HDM potential, can accommodate both explicit and spontaneous CP violation as well as natural flavour conservation and is hence relevant for studies of CP violation coming from a realistic extended Higgs sector. The model has an interesting regime, controlled by a single parameter, where it acquires an approximate global $U(1) \times U(1)$ symmetry which causes CP violating effects to be small and two pseudo-Goldstone bosons to be present in the scalar spectrum. From parameter space scans, we find that, in a realistic implementation featuring an SM-like Higgs boson, this model predominantely leads to the existence of light additional Higgs bosons with a mass lower than the SM-like Higgs boson.

Soft breaking of a symmetry requires an invariance of the dimension-4 part of the Lagrangian and non-trivial variation of the lower-dimensional part. However, in general, separation between the dim-4 and lower-dimensional Lagrangian is not invariant with respect to basis transformations of fields. Therefore, a natural question of the physical meaning of soft symmetry breaking arises. This problem is addressed here in the framework of two-Higgs-Doublet Models (2HDM). It has been shown, within these models, that in spite of the ambiguity corresponding to the separation between dim-4 and the lower-dimension Lagrangian, implications of the soft symmetry breaking could be formulated in terms of observables, i.e., they are physical and measurable. There are six global symmetries that can be imposed on the scalar sector of the generic 2HDM. Necessary and sufficient tree-level conditions for soft breaking of all of them have been formulated in terms of observables., Comment: 40 pages, 1 figure, matches published version

We study the potential of Weinberg's $\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetric three-Higgs-doublet model (3HDM). The potential is designed to accommodate CP violation in the scalar sector within a gauge theory, while at the same time allowing for natural flavour conservation. This framework allows for both explicit and spontaneous CP violation. CP can be explicitly violated when the coefficients of the potential are taken to be complex. With coefficients chosen to be real, CP can be spontaneously violated via complex vacuum expectation values (vevs). In the absence of the terms leading to the possibility of CP violation, either explicit or induced by complex vevs, the potential has two global U(1) symmetries. In this case, spontaneous symmetry breaking would in general give rise to massless states. In a realistic implementation, those terms must be included, thus preventing the existence of Goldstone bosons. A scan over parameters, imposing the existence of a neutral state at 125 GeV that is nearly CP-even shows that, in the absence of fine-tuning, the scalar spectrum contains one or two states with masses below 125 GeV that have a significant CP-odd component. These light states would have a low production rate via the Bjorken process and could thus have escaped detection at LEP. At the LHC the situation is less clear. While we do not here aim for a full phenomenological study of the light states, we point out that the $\gamma\gamma$ decay channel would be challenging to measure because of suppressed couplings to $WW$., Comment: Minor changes, some references added. Matches Phys. Rev. D version

Models with an extended scalar electroweak sector can have vanishing vacuum expectation values in a basis where an underlying symmetry is imposed. Such extensions are very well motivated. If a symmetry prevents couplings between fermions and additional scalars, such scalars could become viable dark matter candidates if some additional criteria are satisfied. We catalogue $S_3$-symmetric three-Higgs-doublet models, also allowing for softly broken $S_3$-symmetric scalar potential terms, based on whether a specific model could possibly accommodate a dark matter candidate. The variety of the $S_3$-symmetric family models arises due to different possibilities to arrange vacuum expectation values. Such models can have vacua with one or two vanishing vacuum expectation values. In our study we assume that the dark matter candidate is stabilised by the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. The $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry is a remnant of $S_3$ symmetry which survived spontaneous symmetry breaking, and not superimposed over $S_3$. We explore two models; with an without CP violation. These models have a single dark and two active scalar sectors. The active sectors behave in many aspects like a Type-I two-Higgs-doublet model. The dark matter candidate masses, in two cases, are different from the known (previously studied) models with three scalar doublets. After investigating the models in detail, identifying parameters compatible with both theoretical and experimental constraints, we found that the dark matter candidate mass could be within the range of $[52.5,\,89]~\text{GeV}$ or $[6.5,\,44.5]~\text{GeV}$ for a model with CP violation., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of DISCRETE 2020-2021: 7th Symposium on Prospects in the Physics of Discrete Symmetries, 29th November - 3rd December 2021, Bergen, Norway; v2: Minor changes

In spite of the success of the Standard Model of Particle Physics, there are some theoretical predictions which are not yet fully established experimentally as well as some experimental observations which cannot be fitted within its theoretical framework, thus requiring physics beyond the Standard Model. One of these is a hypothetical non-luminous form of matter - dark matter. Models with an extended scalar electroweak sector yield plausible dark matter candidates. In this paper we study a specific model, C-III-a, from a family of $S_3$-symmetric three-Higgs-doublet models. The model consists of two active SU(2) doublets and an inert one. The latter is inert due to a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry that survives the breaking of $S_3$, and would accommodate a dark matter particle. We explore the model numerically, based on theoretical and experimental constraints. After applying a number of successive checks over the parameter space we found a viable dark matter mass region in the range $[6.5;\,44.5]~\text{GeV}$. This region is drastically different from the Higgs-like dark matter states that have been proposed: the well-known Inert Doublet Model and models with three scalar doublets, with one or two inert doublets. Furthermore, the C-III-a model allows for spontaneous CP violation., Comment: 40 pages, 12 figures. v2: PRD version, minor clarifications. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2108.07026