Higgsless electroweak symmetry breaking

Abstract

The possibility of breaking the electroweak symmetry in theories with extra dimensions via boundary conditions is discussed, without a physical Higgs scalar in the spectrum. In these models the unitarity violation scale can be delayed via the exchange of massive KK gauge bosons. The correct W/Z mass ratio can be enforced in a model in warped space with a left-right symmetric gauge group in the bulk. Fermion masses can be similarly generated via boundary conditions. In the perturbative regime the S parameter is too large in the simplest model, however this can be alleviated in by changing the structure of the light fermions slightly. The major remaining issue is the inclusion of a heavy top quark without, generating an unacceptably large shift in the Zb(b-bar) coupling.