Nuclear Physics B153 (1979) 334-364

@ North-Holland Publishing Company

SPONTANEOUS BREAKDOWN OF PARITY IN A CLASS OF GAUGE

THEORIES

GORAN SENJANOVIe
Department of Physics and Astronomy**, University of Maryland, College Park,
Maryland 20742
and
Department of Physics, City College of New York, New York, N. Y. 10031, USA

Received 20 November 1978

We discuss an SU(2)rx SU(2)n x U(1) based left-right symmetric gauge theory in

which parity is broken spontaneously. We prove that the parity broken solution is an
absolute minimum of the potential. If the number of Higgs scalars is kept minimal
(such that it can provide symmetry breaking to U,,(l) and give mass to the fermions),
then that theory at low energies agrees with the standard theory in the realm of both
charged and neutral weak interactions (up to the corrections M&,/M&,). We present
different derivations of this already noticed result and discuss its important
consequences. We find that parity violating neutral currents are free from such cor-
rections and therefore agree with the standard model even for finite Mw, (if we ignore
experimentally tiny mixing between WL and Wi which can be always made to vanish
naturally in these kinds of theories).

1. introduction

In the last decade we have witnessed tremendous experimental and theoretical

advances in the realm of the weak interactions. In 1967, for the first time, a
consistent theory with unambiguous and finite predictions was presented ?? **. By
analogy with quantum electrodynamics and using the principle of spontaneous
symmetry breaking Weinberg and Salam have independently constructed [2] a
unified gauge theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions, based on the gauge
group SU(2)i_x U(l), the subscript L on SU(2) denoting that all the right-handed
fermions are singlets under the group SU(2). In 1971 ‘t Hooft, in a series of

+ Work supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant no. Phy-77-03354 and
PSC-NHE research award by City University of New York under Grant no. RF-11687
and RF-12369. Based on the author’s Ph.D. thesis (unpublished).
????
Present address.
??
?? ?
For a history of a development of gauge theories of weak and electro-magnetic inter-
actions the reader should consult the excellent review [l].

334
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 335

brilliant papers [3], showed that such theories are indeed renormalizable as was
conjectured but not proved by the original creators of the theory; this has started a
flow of theoretical and experimental work in recent years. In 1973 the existence of
neutralcurrents, which are the necessary outcome of the Weinberg-Salam or the
standard theory (hereafter, the standard model will denote the original Weinberg-
Salam model), was experimentally confirmed. This result can in turn be translated
as the fact that the standard model is the minimal unified gauge theory of weak and
electromagnetic interactions, and as the experiments seem to suggest it is probably
a phenomenologically correct theory, at least at present energies. As far as neutrino
induced neutral interactions are concerned it is well-established that for the value
of sin’ Bw= 0.25 (sin Bw is the theoretically free parameter, a function of gauge
coupling constants, subsect. 2.1) the standard theory is in excellent agreement with
experiment which, in view of its simplicity, is a remarkable result. In the last year
or so, however, somewhat disturbing findings have been reported: although stan-
dard theory predicts a sizeable amount of parity violation in atoms, experimental
results [4] were consistent with parity conserving atomic processes. But all the
measurements were performed for heavy atoms where the atomic calculations
behind the experiments cannot be taken without caution, due to the crude approx-
imations necessitated by the large number of nucleons. Also, it should be
mentioned that the Novosibirsk group [5] has obtained contradicting results: their
findings agree with the predictions of the standard theory. This discrepancy can and
should be resolved by performing experiments on light atoms such as hydrogen and
deuterium. However, in this work we will ignore it and simply assume that the
standard theory will survive the mentioned conflicting situation in atomic experi-
ments. The reason is the following: very recently a group of experimentalists at
SLAC [6] has measured polarized electron-nucleus scattering amplitudes using the
theory of the well-established parton model of hadrons, and therefore the results
are much more unambiguous. The results are in favor of the standard model: it
gives excellent agreement with the experiment for sin ‘0w = 0.22. At this stage it is
premature to say whether the small discrepancy between above value of sin 20w
and the one determined by neutrino scattering (sin2 Bw=O.25) should be taken
seriously; we believe it is only fair to say that the standard theory is definitely in
good standing.
However, there is an important link missing in the standard theory; it does not
explain the V-A character of p and p decay, it is put in by hand, as we
mentioned, by allowing only the left-handed components of fermions to couple to
charged gauge mesons. A few years ago an attempt was made to construct a theory
in which both left-handed and right-handed fermions participate in p decay, but
the V-A character of the observed interactions emerges as a result of a natural
suppression of right-handed gauge currents. Namely, Pati, Salam and Mohapatra
have discussed a gauge theory [7,8] based on the group SU(2h x SU(2)n XU(1)
which was completely left-right symmetric, except for the masses of Higgs scalars.
This has in turn enabled them to make the right-handed charged gauge meson W&
336 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

much heavier than WL and therefore, obviously, to suppress its contribution at low
energies. It was subsequently shown in ref. [9a]* that such a picture can emerge as
a result of spontaneous symmetry breaking; namely a completely left-right sym-
metric theory allows for an asymmetric (spontaneously broken) solution which
violates parity. In these theories the observed V-A structure of weak interactions
is only a low-energy phenomenon which should disappear when one reaches the
energies of order lo3 GeV or higher. In such a picture, all interactions above these
energies are supposed to be parity conserving (the large mass of Wi would not
count at such energies) and describable by a single gauge coupling constant
g(g2/47r = (u). The enlargement of the gauge group and increase in the number of
Higgs scalars seems to be the necessary price to be paid in order to bring parity
violation on the same (respectable) footing as the violation of other, continuous
symmetries, Namely, one could try (as people did) to make a vector-like SU(2) x
U(1) theory in which both the left-handed and right-handed fermions are in doub-
lets. However, these theories are definitely in contradiction to neutrino experiments
and are ruled out. Therefore, we are led naturally to the SU(2)r x SU(2)n x U( 1)
gauge theory which predicts the doubled number of charged gauge mesons (4Wr
and Wi) as opposed to the standard theory (2W’) and also the doubled number of
massive neutral gauge mesons (two, against one in the standard model). In this
paper we analyze in detail some of the most important features of such a theory,
led through most of our work by the requirement of the minimal number of parti-
cles. Namely, we concentrate on a theory with a minimal Higgs assignment which is
necessary to break down the symmetry to electromagnetic gauge invariance and to
provide the masses for fermions. As we shall see it turns out similar to the fact that
the standard model is a minimal gauge theory with V-A charged currents, that this
minimal left-right symmetric theory seems to be the correct one. It, of course, has
to agree with the standard model in the interactions of neutrinos (that is dictated by
experiment), but more than that it happens that in the limit of infinitely heavy W&
the predictions of both theories are identical both in the realm of charged and
neutral currents. In other words, at the tree level (order GF), up to the small cor-
rections due to the finite mass of W&, these theories are otherwise phenomenolo-
gically indistinguishable. With the increased precision of present experiments and
by going to higher energies they will, of course, be distinguishable.
Our original result is the proof of the stability of the parity broken solution of
the theory presented in appendix B. Also, a somewhat different derivation and
explanation of the SU(2)xU(l) limit of the theory given by Pati, Rajpoot and
Salam [lo] is given in sect. 2 and appendix D. The paper is organized in the
following manner.
In sect. 2 we discuss the choice of Higgs assignment, the pattern of symmetry
breaking and the predictions of the resulting theory. In appendices A, B, C and D

* The spontaneous violation of parity has been independently discussed in ref. [9b] in the
context of the W(2) x U(1) gauge group. Fayet’s model, however, is not realistic.
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 331

we offer some detailed proofs relevant to this section. We should mention that we
completely concentrate on the minimal theory characterized also by the so-called
manifest [ll] left-right symmetry (that is the same left and right charged currents).
At the beginning of sect. 2 we offer a very brief review of some of the basic
properties of the standard theory (which will probably bore the reader, but is help-
ful for the comparison with the SU(2hx SU(2)n XU(1) theory).
In sect. 3 we offer a summary and analysis of the presented material. We com-
ment on possible differentiation between the Weinberg-Salam theory and the
minimal left-right symmetric theory. In particular, we stress the importance of the
possible discovery of the light neutral Higgs scalar which would serve to refute
most of the left-right symmetric theories.
It is fair to emphasize once again that this work is by no means a complete
analysis of the work done on left-right symmetric theories. For excellent reviews
and thorough discussions of many different aspects of these kinds of theories we
refer the reader to the articles by Mohapatral [12] and Pati [13].
We have four appendices. In appendix A we analyze the reality of vacuum
expectation values and show that the minimal Higgs sector allows complex expec-
tation values, which in turn means that one does not have to increase the number
of Higgs scalars to understand CP violation.
Appendix B is where we prove that the parity broken solution is the absolute
minimum of the potential. In the process we obtain the complete set of physical
Higgs particles which may be useful for future purposes.
In appendix C we discuss the physical gauge meson states and the relations
between their masses.
As mentioned, in appendix D we derive the SU(2) x U(1) limit when Mw,+ cc.
We also show that the parity violating interactions in the minimal left-right sym-
metric theory are those of the standard model even with finite Mw, (ignoring the
experimentally small mixing between Wt and W& which can be made to vanish
naturally if desired). We also discuss parity violation in general SU(2h_x SU(2)n x
U(1) theories.

2. The minimal left-right symmetricSU(2)L x SU(2)R x U(1) gauge theory and its
relation to the standardtheory of weak and electromagneticinteractions

This is the basic section of our work, Here we analyze in detail (including
appendices A, B, C and D) the symmetry breaking in left-right symmetric theories,
with special emphasis on the spontaneous violation of parity. The theory we have in
mind is the minimal theory in terms of the Higgs sector, which manifestly preserves
parity prior to symmetry breaking. As we shall see, it is characterized by the same
left and right charged currents; so that the dominant V-A character of p and CL
decay is then attributed to the large mass of W i, the right-handed charged gauge
meson. We also present a somewhat original derivation and explanation of the
338 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

phenomenologically very important fact: in the limit of very large mass of right-
handed charge gauge meson, the effective neutral current Hamiltonian in this
theory is the same as in the standard theory. At the expense of maybe boring the
reader, we start sect. 2 by reviewing some of the basic properties of the standard
model of weak and electromagnetic interactions. Next, we analyze in detail the
problem of symmetry breaking (i.e., that which manifestly breaks left-right sym-
metry) showing that the asymmetric solution is the absolute minimum of the classi-
cal Higgs potential, in a range of parameters of the Langrangian. We then turn our
attention to the charged sector of the theory, by discussing the p and p decay as
seen in this theory, and we present some speculations about the possible parity
conserving character of weak interactions at high energies. Finally, we discuss the
neutral gauge meson sector where we show the already mentioned equivalence with
the standard model.

2.1. The standard theory : a review

The gauge group is SU(2)L x U(l), with coupling constants g and g’, respectively.
The 2N quarks and 2N leptons (N was 2 in the original formulation of Weinberg
and Salam [2], but today we know that N must be larger) are in left doublets with
right-handed components being singlets:

QIL=(;:)~,
QzL=(::)~,
....&,&,&&,..., (2.1)

where the superscript zero denotes that they are not eigenstates of the mass matric
and

(2.2)

The electric charge operator is defined as

Q=T,+:Y, (2.3)
where T and Y are generators of SU(2) and U(1) respectively. The minimal Higgs
assignment that breaks the symmetry down to U,,(l) is the doublet under SU(2)

d=(“,J, (2.4)

with the U(1) quantum number 1:

Yfp=Cp. (2.5)
By minimizing the classical potential with a wrong sign for the mass term, one
obtains

(4) = (o), (v is real). (2.6)

 G. Senjanovic’ / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 339

The gauge meson eigenstates in turn become

w; _w1,;;w2,,
i&=ag2u2,

1
A, = (g’W3r + g&J ~ t&=0,
Jg2+grZ’

1
z, = w3, -d&L) - m: =au2(g2+gr2), (2.7)
q-q’

where W’ are two massive charged gauge mesons, A is the photon and Z a
massive neutral gauge meson (W and B are gauge fields associated with SU(2) and
U(1) groups, respectively), We can also write
A,, = W3@sin Bw + Bp cos 13~,

Z, = W,, cos ew - Bp sin ew, (2.8)

with
tan ew = gf/g. (2.9)
Then we have the well-known relation between MW and Mz
Mz = M&OS i3w , (2.10)
which implies a heavier neutral gauge meson than the charged ones.
Once we know the phsyical states we can display the currents. The charged
fermionic currents are obviously purely V-A in character (since only left-handed
fermionic components are coupled to W’). The neutral current interaction will
have the usual photonic piece and the piece due to the exchange of the massive
neutral gauge meson Z. In order to complete the review of the standard model, we
display below the neutral current associated with the Z particle:

J; =& !Y~ ( T3L - Q,, sin2W , (2.11)

where f denotes fermions and L = i( 1 - y5).

The neutrino induced neutral current interactions suggest sin28w=0.25 [14]. It
seems also that the agreement with the recent SLAC experiment on polarized elec-
tron-nucleon scattering is obtained for a similar value of sin2 Bw . In view of its
simplicity, we can say that Weinberg-Salam theory has spectacular agreement with
the experiment.

2.2. The minimal left-rightsymmetric theory and the spontaneous violationof parity

We have mentioned at the end of sect. 1 that Weinberg-Salam theory has very
good chances to turn out to be the correct theory of weak and electromagnetic
340 G. Senjanovif 1 Spontaneous breakdown of parity

interactions. But isn’t any attampt to construct a different gauge theory then just a
leisure game? We shall try to show that the answer to this question lies in the
negative. First, we wish to emphasize that the original motivation for SULK
SU(2)n x U( 1) gauge theories was not phenomenological, but “philosophical” in a
sense: it was suggested as a possible explanation of the V-A structure of the /3
and p decay. Therefore, the fact that it agrees with the standard theory in most
aspects at the present energies is only welcome; however, it will certainly differ at
higher energies at which the mass of Wi will play an important role.
The theory we have in mind is based on gauge groups SU(2), x SU(2)n x U(1)
with coupling constants gL, gn and g’ respectively. The immediate consequence of
the left-right symmetry which we will impose on the Langrangian is that left and
right gauge coupling constants are the same: gL = gn = g. The 2N quarks and 2N
leptons are placed in doublets (the nature will choose N)

QIL=($),, QzL=($) ,..., +L++R,

L

hL=(;)L,4Q2L=(y’
P L”“’
)+L++R. (2.12)

The representation content of fermionic multiplets is

(2.13)

The electric charge operator is defined as

Qelc T~L+ T~R+$Y, (2.14)

where TL, and TR and Y are the generators of the SU(~)L, SU(2)R and U(1)
respectively. In order to produce fermionic mass matrices we are led to the follow-
ing Higgs multiplets

(2.15)

with transformation properties

CD= (4, P, O), rn=(&P,O,. (2.16)

As is obvious from (2.16), @ and 6 serve to connect left and right fermionic
multiplets and eventually, after spontaneous symmetry breaking, to produce the
mass matrices, as we shall see later. Now, the most general form of (a) which
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 341

preserves electromagnetic gauge invariance is

(@)= (,”k”,) ’ (2.17)

But, then

(TX+ T3R)(@)= 0, Y(@)=O, (2.18)

so that symmetry is broken down to U( 1) x U(1). Therefore, in order to complete
the symmetry breaking we obviously need more Higgs multiplets. The simplest
choice (and the minimal one) is to introduce two Higgs doublets

XL= (;+I), (;$)

, XR= (2.19)

with the following transformation properties

XLB, 0, 11, XR=ai, 1). (2.20)

Under the parity operation the fields transform as follows
WL-+WR, fh’~, XL-XR,

Q-Q+, &4+, (2.21)

where WL,R stands for left and right gauge mesons, respectively and p denotes
quark and lepton doublets Qi and $i.
The transformation property of 0: @c*@+ under left-right symmetry leads to
symmetric fermionic matrices, as we show now. Namely, the most general Yukawa
couplings are given by
(2.22)

Now, left-right symmetry leads to the condition

Uij= U* bij = bs .
ji 7 (2.23)

From eq.(2.22) and using (2.17) we obtain the following fermionic mass matrices
Mlii=aijk+bijk’*, Mzij=aijk’+bijk*, (2.24)

where the subscript i = 1,2 denotes T3 = 3 and T3 = -$ fermions. If we ignore for

the time being the question of CP violation we can work with real Yukawa coup-
lings and also assume that k and k’ are real (in appendix A we prove that for a
range of parameters in the classical potential it is possible to achieve that). In that
case obviously Mi and A& are real and symmetric, which means that we can
diagonalize them by orthogonal transformations. In other words, we can find Or
and O2 such that
f7L.R = 0ifiL.R 9 (2.25)
342 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

and

O’h4iOi = Di )
(2.26)

where Di denote diagonal up and down fermionic mass matrices (i = 1,2 stands, as
before, for T3 = : and T3 = -i fermions). Since this means that left and right
Cabibbo-like angles are the same, we have an example of a manifest left-right
symmetry characterized by the same left and right charged currents. This in turn
implies that Wi must be very heavy. We wish to remark that although in the case
of two or more Q’s it is possible to avoid manifest left-right symmetry (that is one
can have different left and right charged currents), in the case of 4 quarks we are
forced to the choice of heavy W& independently of the details of the Higgs sector.
It is remarkable that although the classical Higgs potential is symmetric under
&t)xn, the following pattern of symmetry breaking emerges as the minimum of
the potential for a range of parameters (for the proof we refer the reader to
appendix B)

(XL) = 0, kR)= (0)>

(@)= (0”
i,). (2.27)

The unbroken symmetry is U,,(l) generated by the charge operator as defined

in eq.(2.14).

2.2.1. Charged currents. The charged gauge meson mass matric is then given by

WL G
6 igg2(k2+kr2) -:g2kk’ . (2.28)
Wi I -$g2kk’ $g2(k2+kr2 +v2) i

The discussion of physical eigenstates is left for appendix C. There we also show
how the tiny mixing between Wt and Wi can be essentially ignored in most of the
analysis; in other words we can work with Wt and W& as approximate physical
states. This in turn implies the usual Cabibbo-like form of the charged currents
with left and right mixing angles exactly the same as the product of manifest left-
right symmetry. In other words, the form of the charged currents is

d
JtL =%_G~J_+ %Y~PL+@)LY@
0s L'

d
JAR = YRY~eR+~kY~I1R+(~E)RY~O s R (2.29)
0
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 343

where 0 is an orthogonal matrix. In the case of 4 quarks it is given by

cos I4 sin 0
o= (2.30)
-sin 0 cos 0 ’

where 8 is the Cabibbo angle.

The fact that left and right charged currents are the same is, as we stated earlier,
crucial. It implies, that no matter what the number of quarks is, the right-handed
charged gauge meson must be very heavy (see appendix C).

2.2.2. Neutral currents. From (2.27) we obtain the following mass matrix for the
neutral gauge mesons
3
W? WR B
W2. ig2(k2 + k’*) -ig2(k2+ k’*) 0
(2.31)
W:, -:g*(k*+k’*) &*(k*+k’* +v2) -&‘a2 .
B 0 -$gg’v2 +g’*v*I
1
The eigenvalues are (in the approximation (k* + k’* )/v* <<1)
Mw, cos 0
MzZL Mw (2.32)
cos e ’ Mx= Jcos2e ’

with the angle 0 defined as

(2.33)

(Notice that our definition of angle B is different from the usual one*.) The neutral
gauge meson eigenstates are given by

A,=(W~,+W~,)sinB+B,Jcos28, MA=O,
2, = Wt, cos 8 - Wi, sin B tan 0 -B, tan 0 Jcos 28,

(2.34)

From the above eigenstates it is a simple exercise to find the neutral current
generated by the light massive gauge meson (the only one relevant at low energies)

JzIr = --& f y,[ T3L - Q sin* elf,

where

L&-n). (2.35)

?? The usual definition differs for a factor of 2 (see, for example, ref. [12]). However, our
definition is more suitable for comparison with the standard model.
344 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

Since, from (2.32) Mz cos 0 = Mw, we obtain the following important result: in
the limit of the large mass of W& and with identification sin 0 = sin Bw the minimal
left-right symmetric gauge theory predicts all the lowest-order neutral current
interactions to be exactly the same as in the Weinberg-Salam model.
Moreover, since we have e = g sin B like in the Weinberg-Salam model, if sin 0 =
sin Bw we also predict the same masses for the light gauge meson as in the Wein-
berg-Salam theory:

Mw,(LR) = Mw,(WS) , Mz(LR) = M,(WS) . (2.36)

This result is not new; it has been known to Pati, Rajpoot and Salam [lo]. In
appendix D we offer a more elegant and simpler derivation based on the w ork of
Georgi and Weinberg [15]. We should perhaps emphasize that the result does not
follow from Georgi-Weinberg theorem which concerns only neutrino interactions
and assumes a different pattern of symmetry breaking. It is rather the explanation
which we now present that leads to our results.

2.3. The SlJ(2)L x U(1) limit of a minimal left-right symmetric theory

Here we analyze the hierarchy of symmetry breaking consistent with our

assumption D >>k, k’. The first stage of symmetry breaking occurs through (xR). It
breaks SU(2)n x U(1) down to U’(l), since

(&+:Y)(xn)=O, (2.37)

so that the generator of U’( 1) is $ Y’= Tan + $ Y. The coupling constant that cor-
responds to U’(1) is then given by g”

l=L+l or g”=gg’ (2.38)

112 g2 g’2 ’ Jg2+ g”.
g
Therefore

G = SU(2),_x SU(2)n x U(1)

J(xiC)
G’ = SU(2)L x U’( 1) , (2.39)

The effect of the first step of symmetry breaking through (xn) is to give mass to
heavy particles: the charged gauge meson WG and the neutral gauge meson X. By
analogy with the Weinberg-!&lam model (the reader should notice that XR in the
SU(2)n x U(1) group is like the usual doublet q5 in the standard model)
1
B:=(g’W:,+gB,)- M$ =o,
_’

1
x, = (gwi, -g’&) - A4: =.+(g2+g’2)V2. (2.40)
QTp’
 G. Senjanovic’ / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 345

Since we are assuming v >>k, k’ we can now forget about XR and the initial
group and for the purpose of low-energy physics start with G’= SU(Z)Lx U(1) and
a Higgs scalar a. Now it is easy to see that

GL(o”
i,)=t(i_“k,),iY(," i,)=f(Yk”,), (2.41)

a situation completely analogous to the Weinberg-Salam model. There, T&!J)~~ =

-&$),s, $Y@),s = $~$)~s. It is not difficult to see that we have the following
correspondence between the two theories at low energies
WS model LR model

g g g g”
SU(2)LXW SU(2)LXUV)

,
tan 8w = g’/g tan S-g*/g=Jg:+g,i,
(2.42)
Then using well-known results from the Weinberg-Salam theory given in (2.7)
we obtain the following gauge meson eigenstates:

A,=g”W:,+gB;, Mi=O,

2, = g W;& - g”B:, , M$ =~(g2+g”*)(k2+kr2), (2.43)

where A denotes a photon and Z a light massive neutral gauge meson. From the
formula for g” (eq. (2.3)) and using eqs. (2.40) and (2.41) we easily obtain the
formulas for gauge meson eigenstates as given previously. However, eq. (2.43) is
more transparent for our purposes. It is obvious now that with identification &n =
gws we have a complete equivalence between the two theories. But that leads to
tan 6’= tan Bw, where once again: tan 0 = g”/g = g’/Jg* + g”, and t7wis the usual
Weinberg angle as defined in eq. (2.9).
By now, it is generally accepted that the standard model has excellent agreement
with all the neutrino induced neutral current data. Namely, it conforms to all the
experiments with sin* 19wdetermined to be approximately 0.25. The shadow of
doubt has been cast on it by the atomic parity violation results. The situation is still
confusing, since Oxford and Washington groups [4] have observed parity vioIation
on a level much smaller than the standard model prediction (they are consistent
with parity conserving atomic processes), on the other hand the Novosibirsk group
346 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

has obtained results consistent with Weinberg-Salam theory. In view of this and the
very crude approximations used in the atomic calculations behind these experiments
(all the results have been found for heavy atoms), one should take these results
with caution. Obviously we need precise results for parity violation in hydrogen and
deuterium. Recently, a group at SLAC has measured the amount of parity violation
in polarized electron-nucleon scattering as a test of neutral current effects which do
not involve neutrinos. The results agree with the predictions of the standard theory,
however, for slightly smaller value sin’ 0w= 0.22 than the neutrino interactions
suggest. At this stage it is maybe premature to conclude anything decisively, but the
standard theory is definitely in good standing. We are reaching the stage in which
radiative corrections will play a more and more important role. The question is:
where does it leave the left-right symmetric theory analyzed in this paper?
Obviously, in the limit of infinite mass of Wi the SU(2), x SU(2)R x U(1) and the
SU(2),_ x U( 1) theories are equivalent, so that they are equally in good (or bad)
shape in that limit*. We cannot say anything definitely about the predictions with
the finite Mw, for the simple reason that we do not know it (we know only its
lower limit) and also at that stage one should include the radiative corrections. One
comment is worth mentioning: parity violation is maximal when Mw, + CO,so that
effects due to finite Mw, cannot solve the possible discrepancy between slightly
different predictions for sin Bw in the standard theory as given by neutrino and
polarized electron-nucleon scattering; it could only make that discrepancy bigger (in
other words, we need more, not less parity violation in electron-nucleon scattering).
However, the radiative corrections in this theory may have interesting and”large
contributions for heavy Higgs scalars**. Namely, it has been observed by Sokorac
and the author [16a]t in the context of neutral current parity conserving left-right
symmetric theories that the Higgs scalar contributions may be non-trivial in the
form m h/M&,, therefore providing much larger contributions than naively expec-
ted, in the case of heavy Higgs scalars. Of course, it remains to be seen whether
these effects would appear in the case of the minimal left-right symmetric theory. If
they do appear and the mentioned discrepancy in predictions for sin Ow persists in
the future, it may provide an interesting case for the left-right symmetric theories.
We hope that we have successfully argued in favor of left-right symmetry in nature
being spontaneously broken. First, it puts on the same footing the breaking of
gauge symmetry and discrete symmetry such as parity. Secondly, it is still in good
shape in view of old and new experiments (more or less as the standard theory).
Moreover, it may be the necessary enlargement if the standard model does not
conform completely to the experiments.
In passing, we would like to emphasize once again that we were forced to the
described choice of Higgs sector on account of what we know about charged weak

?? It is often (wrongly) stated that assuming the atomic parity violation to be in agreement
with the standard model, it will be the only model to survive experimental tests.
??* We thank J. C. Pati for pointing this out to us.
t For similar effects in an SU(2)X U(1) gauge theory see ref. [16b]. See also [16c].
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 347

currents and also by the requirement to have a minimal particle spectrum. The
approximate equivalence at low energies of the standard model and the minimal
left-right symmetric model in the realm of neutral currents turned out to be a
welcome consequence of such a pattern of symmetry breaking.
We finish this chapter by comparing the minimal left-right symmetric theory with
the standard model in view of their complexities (or rather simplicity in the case of
the standard model); that is we display in table 1 the price which may be necessary
to be paid in order to understand the V-A theory of /? and p decay. From table 1
we see that from 5 particles (excluding fermions whose number obviously can be
taken the same in both theories) in the standard model (3 massive gauge mesons, a
photon and a physical Higgs scalar) we are led to 17 physical particles (6 gauge

Table 1
Comparison between the standard Weinberg-Salam model and the minimal left-right sym-
metric theory (for relevant discussion see sect. 2 and appendices B and D)

Gauge group Weinberg-Salam Minimal L - R

SU(2) x U(1) SU(2)r x SU(2)n x U(1)

Gauge mesons W’, A, Z WE, W;, A, Z, X

Mw Mw, cos e
Mx=. -,Mn=O Mz=s,Mx= - ,MA=O
cos ew cos e JCOS2e

Fermionic
assignment

Higgs sector and

symmetry
breaking
physical Higgs: Re 4’ @) = (0” k”,) >h’d = 0, kR) = ( ;)

physical Higgs: 4 charged, 6 real

neutral particles (as given in appen-
dix B)

Basic V-A charged currents V-A currents as effect of

difference by hand spontaneous symmetry breaking

Basic the same neutral current (when MW, + co)

similarity
348 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

mesons, a photon and 10 physical Higgs scalars), a definitely large increase. Espe-
cially disturbing is the increase of the number of Higgs particles: from 1 to 10. It is
interesting to observe that in order to construct a theory of weak and electromag-
netic interactions Weinberg and Salam postulated the existence of two new particles
(neutral gauge meson* and the neutral Higgs scalar; charged gauge mesons were
suspected much earlier) and in order to understand the violation of parity it seems
that we need a minimum of 12 new particles.

3. Summaryand conclusions

In this work we have discussed and emphasized some of the basic properties of
left-right symmetric theories.
(i) The initially completely left-right symmetric theory allows the pattern of
symmetry breaking that violates parity at the level which is dictated by the V-A
structure of fi decay.
(ii) The minimal such theory (minimal in the sense of the choice of the gauge
group and the Higgs assignment within it) in the limit of pure V-A charged weak
currents, agrees completely with the standard model in the realm of both charged
and neutral currents. The corrections due to finite amount of V+A currents in this
model are small and are in agreement with experiment. That has important
consequence that Weinberg-Salam theory cannot be singled out at present energies
as a candidate for a unified gauge theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions.
The burning question is then: how can we distinguish left-right symmetric and
the standard theory? Now, they certainly differ at high energies, but what about
present energies? The possible discovery of the charged Higgs scalar (or scalars)
would not help (they are necessarily present even in the minimal left-right sym-
metric theories), since they can be accounted for in the SU(2h_x U(1) gauge theory,
if we increase the number of Higgs doublets. In our opinion, the most clear signa-
ture against manifest left-right symmetric theory would be the discovery of a light
neutral Higgs boson (its mass being of order of lo-100 GeV). Namely, these
theories violate strangeness through the exchange of neutral Higgs scalars and since
we know that neutral currents must conserve strangeness up to extremely large
extent, it could only be explained by assuming neutral Higgs scalars to be very
heavy. Therefore, the existence of light neutral Higgs scalars would obviously
embarrass any proponent of manifest left-right symmetry. However, it would not
rule out all the SU(2h x SU(2)n X U(1) theories that conserve parity prior to sym-
metry breaking. Namely, the left-right symmetric theory with “orthogonal” struc-
ture [18,19] of left and right charged currents does conserve strangeness and
charm, while violating heavy quark flavors [19]. It is worth emphasizing that such

?? The existence of the neutral massive gauge meson was suspected by Glashow as early as
1961. See ref. [17].
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 349

theories can predict calculable neutrino masses. In particular a model was discussed
[19] that leads naturally to massless neutrinos to all orders in perturbation theory.
One could (naively) hope that the discrepancy between the Oxford and
Washington atomic parity violation results, which are consistent with the parity
conserving theory, and the SLAC polarized electron-nucleon scattering findings,
which favor parity violating theory, would persist in the future. Obviously then, the
standard theory would be ruled out with its unambiguous predictions which are the
product of its appealing simplicity. On the other hand, one would expect left-right
symmetric theories to be able to conform to such a situation, once sufficiently
changed by enlarging the Higgs sector. However, as we have shown in appendix D
it is an impossible task, since all the parity violating effects in any left-right sym-
metric theory have the same structure as in the standard model [20] (the difference
only being in a possible different strength of these effects). We then have a situa-
tion in which, although we may not be able to differentiate between the two types
of theory at the present energies, it could happen (we believe it is not likely) that
both theories may be rejected if the discrepancy persists. The models that would
benefit from the mentioned discrepancy are already being suggested. We deeply
hope that they will not be called for. Our (prejudiced) belief is that the standard
theory will turn to be correct at present energies and that eventually the heavy
right-handed charged gauge mesons will manifest themselves.

It is a pleasure to thank R.N. Mohapatra and A. Sokorac for their interest and
illuminating discussions. I wish to thank R.N. Mohapatra for pointing out some
minor errors in the original version of the manuscript.

Appendix A

The most general renormalizable potential that can be constructed with fields
@i = 0 and (I)2= 6 (6 = T#‘*~J is the following

1
ij=l,Z ijkl=1,2

ijkl=1.2

Left-right symmetry under which the fields Q1 and a2 transform as @ie&i = 1,2)
dictates

Al212 = A21219 hiijk = Aiikj, Aijkk = hjikk 9

A &k[ = A;ijk = Akrij= Aikli 7 (A.3

350 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

and Aijkland describe the same terms. We look for the vacuum expectation
Ak[ij

value of @ in the form

O.,), (A.3)
k’ela
where k and k’are real numbers. First we will show that one of the phases can be
always eliminated. Namely, under gauge symmetry Q, transforms in the following
manner

where U, and UR are unitary unimodular 2 x 2 matrices. So by performing rota-

tions around the t axis, that is by choosing
icy bR
0 O
ULze
( 0 e-‘pL ) ’
URce 0
( e-% 1
7 (A.9

the ((I.9gets rotated away into

(‘4.6)

Therefore, by choosing a’+pR--pL = 0 we can always put the vacuum expectation

value of Cpin the form

(A.7)

We now analyze the behavior of the potential as a function of 8. From (A.l),

(A.2) and (A.7) we obtain
V=A+BcosS+Ccos2S, 64.8)
where
A=[-(/.& +~~~)+(~~~~~+h~~~2+h~2~~+A2222)(k2+k’2)l(k2+k’2)
+4(h1221+A2112+2A~221)k2k’2+(A;lll +A;m)(k4+kr4L
B=[-p:2 +4(A 1112+A1211+A2221+A~122+A~112+1\~221)(k~+k’~)lkk’,
C=4(2A1212+A;~12)k~k’~. (A.9
The reader should notice that both B and C are proportional to kk’. Therefore, if
k’= 0 or k = 0 there can be no solution with S # 0. Assuming that both k, k’f 0 (as it
must be in reality to achieve realistic quark mass matrices) we get the following
conditions for the extremum of the potential

o=a(v)
-= -(B+4CcosS)sinS, (A.lO)
as
 G. Senjanooic’ / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 351

which implies two possible solutions

&=O, S*=?l, 83 = cos-i (-B/4C). (A.ll)

Now the second derivative of (V) is then

a*(v)
T=-Bcos6-4Ccos2S. (A.12)
as

Therefore

a’(v) a’( v>

as2 I
a1
= -B-4C,
as2 I a*
=B-4C,

a*(v) 16C*-B*
as2 I
&= 4c .
(A.13)

We can see from (A.13) that both solutions are perfectly acceptable in different
ranges of parameters. In other words:
(i) if B2> 16C* the minimum of the potential occurs at the vanishing phase:
&=Oor 8*=1r.
(ii) if C>O, B*- 16C*<O, the minimum is at the non-vanishing phase:
cos 8s = - Bf 4C.
We have then proved that even with a single 0 we can have complex expec-
tation values, a result which then has a profound consequence that we do not
necessarily have to increase the number of Higgs multiplets in order to explain the
phenomenon of CP violation in the neutral kaon system.

AQQedX B

Symmetry breaking in the minimal left-right symmetric theory W(2)= x sum x

W)
As described in sect. 2, the theory consists of the following Higgs multiplets

x,(3,0, l), XdO,$71) 9

a&,3*,0) (B-1)
352 G. Senjanovit / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

We want to prove that the minimum of the potential will be in the form

(XL)= 0 1 (W=(f) w=(; k”,). 1 03.2)

Now, to simplify the calculation we will analyze the theory in the limit k’= 0.
Our results should be taken only approximately; but, however, they illustrate the
important fact that parity can be broken spontaneously. In order to ensure the
existence of such a solution (k’= 0) we require the Higgs potential be invariant
under the following additional discrete symmetry D

XL’XL, XR + XR, @+ei”‘2@.

(B.3)

The most general Higgs potential consistent with the left-right symmetry and the
symmetry D is then given by

V= -p: tr@+Q,+Ai (trO+@)2+h2 tr@+@@+Q++3A3(tr@+6+tr++@)2

+ &(tr cP’6 - tr 6,‘@)’+ AStr @+@&,‘d+ iA6[tr @+&a+6 + h.c.]

+C&&b&+~L+~~6+~~,). (B.4)

We are looking for the minimum of the potential that preserves the U(l),, gauge
invariance

From the conditions for the extremum we obtain

av
,k=k[-1L:+2(A1+A2)k2+2(A1+4A~+A5+A6)k’2+((yl+(Y;)(2)t+U~)]=O,

s= z)~_[-/L;+2p& +pzv; +al(k2+k’2)+azk’2+a;k2]=0,

L

av
-=~~[-p;+2p~&+p2~~+a~(k~+k’~)+a2k’~+a;k~]=O. 03.6)
avR
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 353

Obviously, there is a solution that extremizes the potential shown in eq.(B.S)

k’= vL=O, VR’V#O, k#O, (B.7)
where v and k satisfy simpler equations

/L: =2(A~+A~)k*+(a~+a;)v* ,

p; =2plv2+(al+a;)k2. (B.8)

We will now show that our solution also minimizes the potential, that is we will
show that for a range of parameters of the potential the Higgs mass matrix is
positive definite. To introduce our notation, we write

a=($ ;;,, *r=(,xE,, Xn=(;$). (B.9)

(i) Charged Higgs sector. After some straightforward and tedious algebra, we
obtain the following mass matric for the charged Higgs scalar particles

42’ 0 0 0 0
x; 0 (Pz-2p1)v2+(Aa)k2 0 0
(B.lO)
4: 0 0 (Aa)v2 (Aa)kv ’
XL 0 0 (Acu)kv (A(u)k2
where
Aa =(Y~-LY; , (B.ll)
Now, since in the limit k’= 0 Wt and Wg are exact gauge meson eigenstates,
we find the following two charged Goldstone bosons that eventually become longi-
tudinal components of Wt and W&, respectively

Gt=&, m&=0,
1
Gii = (k2+ v2)1/2 (k& - vx&), m& = 0. (B.12)

The rest of diagonalization is then trivial; we also have two charged physical Higgs
scalars
Ht =xt, rn& =(P~-~~I)zI~+(AcI)~~,
1
H: =(k2+v2~l,2(v~;+kx;;), m&, = (dcy)(k2+ v2). (B.13)

Obviously, the conditions for minimum become the positivity of Higgs scalar
masses
(Yz-(Y; >o, p2-2p1>0. (B.14)
354 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

(ii) Neutral Higgs scalars. We will work with real and imaginary components of
neutral Higgs scalars, since they do not couple to each other in the mass matrix.
Following the order of increasing complexity we first concentrate on the fields
represented by imaginary components (in our notation denoted as d:‘i, &,, x&j x~i)

with

A=2k2(-4A4+A5+h6-h2)+~*((y2-_(y;),
B=(p,-2p,)u2. (B.15)
Again, we have two real neutral Goldstone bosom which correspond to two
massive neutral gauge mesons. They are easily found to be (in the limit k*<< v2,
since only in this limit do we know neutral gauge meson eigenstates, see sect. 3).
Gz-tiyi, m&, =O,

Gx-X&, m&, ~0. (B.16)

We have also two neutral massive scalar particles
HY = 4:i, mklO=A,
fG=XFi, m&O=B. (B.17)

The positivity of their masses leads to the condition

A>O, B>O, (B.18)

or more precisely
az-a;>O) P2-2Pl>o 9 -4A4+AS+A6-A,>O, (B.19)
which obviously does not contradict the previously obtained condition, eq. (B.14).
Finally, we display the mass matric of the real components of the neutral Higgs
scalars
& IA' 0 0 0 I
xk 0 B 0 0
(B.20)
&r 0 0 4k2(A1+A2) 2vk(cq+a;)’

XL 0 0 2ak(az+cr;) 4PlU2
Obviously, we have four more massive Higgs particles: &, ,& and two orthogonal
linear combinations of c$?, and ,&. the positivity of their masses requires
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 355

additional constraints
4k2(A1+A2)+4p1v2>0, A’=(4A3+h5+A6-A2)2k2+v2(a2-a;)>O,

~PI(AI+A~-(QI+& +P2)*>0, (B.21)

which does not contradict any of the previous conclusions. In other words, in the
range of parameters

p*-2p1>0, Lx*-a;>o,

4A3+A5+A6-A2>0, Ar+A2>0, Pl>O,

4~r(Ar+A2)-(ai+cu;)*>O, -4A4+As+As-A,>O, (B.22)

our solution is the local minimum of the classical potential. However, in order that
our solution represents a stable particle configuration, it must also be an absolute
minimum of the potential. There are two other possible symmetry breaking
patterns which preserve the electromagnetic gauge invariance:
(a) the case of unbroken gauge symmetry

(XL)= (XIX)
= (@)= 0 ; (B.23)
(b) the case of broken gauge symmetry, but conserved left-right symmetry
+P)=O
(XL)= (A%)# 0, with or (B.24)
(4) # 0.
Now, the case (a) is always a local maximum, since the second derivatives of the
potential with respect to fields at the extremum are negative or zero
a*v =- a*v
a,&axL (x3=0 a&xR

a*v
is55 =-cl:, (B.25)
b)=O

the rest vanish.

Similarly, in case (b), independently of the value of (c$), at least one of the Higgs
masses is proportional to 2~1-p2 with a positive coefficient and therefore becomes
negative for the condition ~2-2~1 >O (see eq. (B.22)). We show this in the
simplest case when the Higgs multiplet C$is not present (the generalization is tri-
vial). From (B.6) taking k’ = k = 0 and uL = uu = D# 0 we get
-&+(2pl+p*)u*=o. (B.26)

We have only two charged Higgs scalars ,& and ,& and they both become
longitudinal components of Wt and Wi, respectively (now hL) # 0). Similarly, the
356 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdow of paritv

two imaginary components of neutral Higgs scalars xl and xi become neutral

Goldstone bosons. The real components mix among themselves and lead to the
following mass matrix

XL 4P,U2 2P2V2
(B.27)
XL 2P2U2 4PlU2 ’

whose eigenvalues in turn become

m: =mP1+P2)v2, rn: = 2(2pr -p2)v2. (B.28)

But for p2- 2pr < 0, which was one of our minimum conditions, see eq. (B.22),
rn: <O so that this solution becomes a local maximum (or more precisely a saddle
point).
Since the symmetric equations for (xL) and (XR)allow only

(XL)= kR) = 0 > (XL) = (XR) f 0 7

(XI_) = 0, kR) # 0 (or vice versa) . (B.29)

It is then evident that our asymmetric solution is not only a local minimum, but
also an absolute minimum of the Higgs potential in the range of parameters as
given in eq. (B.22).
We end up this discussion by an amusing comment. It is easy to see that all of
the masses (except one of them) of Higgs particles are proportional to u*, the large
vacuum expectation value; in other words most of the masses can be written as
rni =Av2, (B.30)
where A is a typical 44 coupling constant. It can be written as:
A
mt3 =-?M&, = lOOAM&, . (B.31)
g
Since A should not exceed one (in order to have possible perturbation theory) we
obtain the usual upper limit [21] for the Higgs scalar masses:

a relation which in the standard model is obtained by substituting M&, +M&. In

other words, except for one particle, the rest of physical Higgs scalars could be
extremely heavy (much heavier’than 1 TeV).
Finally we comment on our approximation k’= 0. Although physically unac-
ceptable (it would lead to a vanishing down-quark mass matrix since (i, cannot
couple to quarks due to discrete symmetry @+eiw”@, see eq. (2.24)) as we have
shown in appendix C, k’ must be smaller than k, so that results can be taken as a
leading approximation for small k’. Also, we should mention that in order to
achieve k’= 0 we had to implement a discrete symmetry D which has substantially
simplified the Higgs potential by eliminating many possible terms. Since even with
 G. Senjanovic’ / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 357

that reduced number of coupling constants we had a consistent set of constraints

which followed from the requirement of a stable particle configuration, it is even
more likely to be so in the real case of non-vanishing k’ when we have many more
coupling constants, and therefore less chance of running into a contradiction.

Appendix C

Gauge meson eigenstates in the minimal left-right symmetric theory

For the sake of completeness in this appendix we derive physical gauge meson
eigenstates (eigenstates of mass matrices) and their eigenvalues. We have the
following Higgs scalars (see sect. 2):

(C.1)

with the pattern at symmetry breaking:

(XL)= 0, (xR)=(;), @)=(o”

k”,),v>k,k’. C.2)
The piece of the Langrangian containing their covariant derivatives is

9~ = (DIIXL)+DI*XL+(D~R)+D~XR+~~
(D,@)+Dw@, (C.3)
where

DcrxL= &XL - hgr+WLxL ,

D&R = a,& - $igT . WMR ,

D,@=aa,@-$g(r * WL@-@T * WR). (C.4)

Gauge meson mass matrices are then obtained by substituting (C.2) into (C.3)
and using (C.4). We do not go through that simple exercise; we just give the resul-
ting mass matrices.

(a) Charged gauge mesons.

t Wt
M(+)= ;; _;;bg;kfz) -$g2kk’
i :g2(k2+kr2+u2) i ’
The eigenstates and eigenvalues of this matrix are then:
W:=Wtcos&+Wisin[,

Wt =-Wt sint+ Wi cost,

358 G. Senjanovi6 / Spontaneous breakdown of parily

where

(C.7)

In other words, W1 is a light charged gauge meson with predominantly V-A

couplings (notice that 1tan [I <<l), whereas W2 is a heavy particle with mostly V + A
couplings to the fermions. To display this more clearly, we give the approximate
eigenvalues in the limit v2 >>k*, k’* :
2
MW
=$q2(k2+ kr2), Mw,=+q2(u2+k2+k’2). (C.9)

Obviously ML2 >>M&, . Experiment dictates [22]

MZV,
*39, (C.10)

or in other words
i2a8(k2+k’2), (C.11)
which in turn implies
)tan2[]Gi. (C.12)

However, experiment puts a more stringent limit on 5 [ll]:

1tan 61G 0.06 . (C.13)

Now, the above condition can be easily met by taking k’ to be sufficiently small:
k’ 1
-_- (C. 14)
k 10’
This justifies some of our analysis (see appendix B, for example) where, in order
to reach some definite results we work in the limit of very small or negligible k’.
We wish to warn the reader that although relation (C.14) is perfectly acceptable,
we cannot take k’ = 0 since that would lead to vanishing Cabbibo angle. Since tan (Y
is so small, we can safely ignore the mixing between Wt and Wi in most of the
material discussed in this paper and work with Wt and Wz as appropriate physical
states, having in mind M&, >>A&,_.

(6) Neutral gauge mesons. In a similar manner to that in which we obtained the
mass matrix of charged gauge mesons, we have the following mass matrix for the
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 359

neutral gauge mesons:

ig2(k2+V2) -$g2(k2+k’2) 0

M+3L.w3RJ3= -&’ (k2+ kr2) ig2(k2+ /Y2+ V2) -igg’v2 . (C.15)

i 0 ’ agg $g’2v2 ‘i

Since det M2 = 0 (as it should be; we must have a photon even after the sym-
metry breaking) we then obtain easily the eigenvalues of the above matrix (we
work in the approximation v2 >>k2, kr2):

1 2g2+w2
M; =zg g2+g’2W2+k’7 9

M$ = ig2(g2 + g’2)v2 ,

Mi-0. (C.16)
If we define: tan 0 =ggl/Jg2+g”, we can write above eigenvalues in the form:
Mw, cos 8
Mz=2 MW (C.17)
cosI9 ’ Mx=Jcos .
Once we have eigenvalues it is a trivial exercise to obtain the physical states.
First, we have a photon which is given by an exact relation
A,=(Wi,+Wk,)sinB+Bp&?%. (C.18)
Besides the photon, we have the “light” and the heavy neutral gauge mesons:
Z, = WLU cos t9- W& sin (3tan B-B, tan 0 Jcos 20,

(C.19)

As a check of our computation, the reader can be easily convinced that the
above eigenstates are orthonormal, as they should be.

Appendix D

Neutral currents: minimal left-right symmetric theory versus the standard theory

In this appendix we prove that, in the limit Mw,+ co, the neutral current
Hamiltonian in the minimal SU(2)L X SU(2), x U(1) gauge theory is equal to the
SU(2)= x U(1) neutral Hamiltonian. We employ the method of Georgi and Wein-
berg [15]. We review it here briefly.
Consider a gauge theory based on an arbitrary group G. Let the gauge symmetry
be broken down to U(l),, via the Higgs mechanism. We can write the electric
360 G. Senjanovic! / Spontaneous breakdown of parity

charge operator as

Qe, = Z CmT, , CD.11

u

where T, are hermitian, electrically neutral generators of G. As we said, we have

a photon p, or in other words a massless eigenvector of a gauge meson mass
matrix I@:
M2pI = 0, p2=l. (D.2)
The p is given by

p =(PCJ, ~~~(~c’lgg~)-1’2c./g., (D.3)

where g, is the coupling constant of the gauge field A: coupled to the generator
T,. The photon is then

A, =CpA;. (D.4)
cl
Georgi and Weinberg then derive the very useful formula for the effective neu-
tral current interaction in the following manner: consider any U(1) subgroup of G
with a generator To and let {Tp}= {TO, Ti}. They show that the neutral current
Hamiltonian is given by

where f denotes fermions;

and Mi2 is the inverse of &(Mi is, in the obvious notation, a mass matrix of a
subset of gauge mesons which consists of all of the gauge mesons, but the one that
corresponds to generator To). In the case of interest, G = SULK SU(2)n x U(1).
We take TOto be Y, the generator of U(1). Using Ci = 1, gi = g we have

n~=g(bthF$Q),

na=g(~&++$Q). (D.7)

The neutral current Hamiltonian is as given in eq. (D.5) with i = L, R. From

m-3)
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 361

The inverse of M2 is found to be

4 k2+k12+v2 4

M-2 =
(D.9)

Obviously for v2 very large only Me211 matrix elements will contribute at low ener-
gies. Therefore, we get the leading expression for the effective Hamiltonian

(D.lO)

This is obviously the result that we would obtain in the standard model in a
trivial manner, with a substitution k2 + kr2 +(c$)&, where &,a is the doublet
under SU(2)r as defined in eqs. (2.3) and also with the equality of sin2 Bw= e2/g$s
and sin2 eLR = e2/g&, which is exactly the condition we have derived in sect. 2
using different methods. The method used here is obviously very powerful and
elegant, since it saves the labor of the usual diagonalization of a gauge meson mass
matrix and the derivation of the physical currents. As an illustration of the power
of this method we give two interesting applications:

(i) General L-R symmetric theory versus standard model-conditions for

equivalence. Let us take TO= Y as before. The most general submatrix Mz of
gauge meson masses is

M;= (D.ll)

The inverse Mi2 is easily found to be

/ c -b \

M,‘= (D.12)

The condition for the equivalence of the two theories is, from our previous analysis,
easily recognized as
M;; CCM;: , M;2’ CCM;: , (D.13)
so that only nL contributes as in the standard theory. But that condition leads then
to
c >>a, b. (D.14)
362 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown c?fparity

We conclude quite generally that as long as (D.14) is satisfied (independently of

the details of the Higgs sector), the left-right symmetric theory and the standard
theory will predict the same neutral current phenomena. What we called a minimal
ambidextrous theory is only the simplest example which led to this desired result.

(ii) parity violation (in neutral currents) in left-right symmetric theories. From eqs.
(DS), (D.6) and (D.7) we write explicitly the neutral current effective Hamiltonian
in left-right symmetric theories based on the SU(2)i. XSU(2), XU(1) gauge group

(D.15)

(f;;nif~*=hwYygnif, i=L,R.

We can draw some important conclusions from the above form. Since nr_/n =
T3L.R -Cl sin* 0 it is obvious that the parity violating piece of the neutral current
Hamiltonian in left-right symmetric theories (independently of the Higgs sector) is
of the same form as in the standard theory. The reason for this is very simple: the
parity violating Hamiltonian in an SU(2)L X su(2)R X U(1) gauge theory is obviously
proportional to:

H!? ~f;CLfmff;/%f3 - Q sin* 8)f, (D.16)

which is exactly the expression in the standard theory. In other words, the struc-
tures are the same; only their respective strength can differ. Of course, as we have
stated many times the minimal theory will have both parity conserving and parity
violating neutral currents completely equal (for ML, -+co) as in the standard
model. However, for parity violating processes we find amazingly close predictions
for both theories, even for finite Mw,. Namely, from eq. (D.15) we can easily
obtain the parity violating amplitude (remember that ML; = k&t)
HN = (ML:. -M&) fyh ($Ts - Q sin* d)ffy&( -tT, ys)f ; (D.17)
but from eq.(D.12)

ML--M& = ‘-’ (D.18)

ac-b*’

In the minimal model (see eq. (2.31))

a =$(k*+k’*), c =$(k2+kr2 +v2), b=&*+k’*), (D.19)
so that
M&M-* -
RR -&*+k’*)’
’ (D.20)
 G. SenjanoviC / Spontaneous breakdown of parity 363

Notice that eq. (D.20) is an exact result, we did not assume U’>>k*, k”. But if we
neglect the mixing between Wr and Wn then obviously ML: -M& = l/M&,; so
that in this case the minimal left-right symmetric theory and the standard model
agree exactly in their predictions for the parity violating scattering amplitudes. But
since we know experimentally that the Wr- Wn mixing is very small (-5%), we
can conclude that to the great extent the tree level amplitudes relevant for the
SLAC experiment are the same in both theories.
Finally, we conclude with a remark concerning the parity conserving neutral
interactions with a class of left-right theories [23]. It is easy, using the Georgi-
Weinberg method, to read off the condition for parity conservation in neutral cur-
rents from eq. (D.15)
ML: = M& , M,; CM-’
RL. (D.21)
The second condition is actually automatically satisfied since Mi* is a symmetric
matrix (see eq. (D.12). Therefore, eq. (D.21) amounts to
M&_ = M& . (D.22)
This condition can be easily understood if we recall the fact that the matrix

has eigenstates WE - Wi and WL + W& which have definite parity trans-

formations.

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