Constraints on gauge-Higgs unification models at the LHC

Abstract

We examine the possibility of observing the Kaluza–Klein (KK) gluons in gauge-Higgs unification models at the LHC with the energy [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]=[Formula: see text]14 TeV. We consider a benchmark model with the gauge symmetry SU(3)[Formula: see text]SU(3)W in five-dimensional spacetime, where SU(3)C is the gauge symmetry of the strong interaction and SU(3)W is that for the electroweak interaction and a Higgs doublet field. It is natural in general to introduce SU(3)C gauge symmetry in five-dimensional spacetime as well as SU(3)W gauge symmetry in gauge-Higgs unification (GHU) models. Since the fifth dimension is compactified to [Formula: see text] orbifold, there are KK modes of gluons in low-energy effective theory in four-dimensional spacetime. We investigate the resonance contribution of the first KK gluon to dijet invariant mass distribution at the LHC, and provide signal-to-noise ratios in various cases of KK gluon masses and kinematical cuts. Although the results are given in a specific benchmark model, we discuss their application to general GHU models with KK gluons. GHU models can be verified or constrained through the physics of the strong interaction, though they are proposed to solve the naturalness problem in electroweak symmetry breaking.