Bound-state/elementary-particle duality in the Higgs sector and the case for an excited 'Higgs' within the standard model

Abstract

Though being weakly interacting, QED can support bound states. In principle, this can be expected for the weak interactions in the Higgs sector as well. In fact, it has been argued long ago that there should be a duality between bound states and the elementary particles in this sector, at least in leading order in an expansion in the Higgs condensate. Whether this remains true beyond the leading order is investigated using lattice simulations, and support is found. This provides a natural interpretation of peaks in cross sections as bound states. Unambiguously, this would imply the existence of (possibly very broad) resonances of Higgs and W and Z bound states within the standard model.

15 pages, 3 figures v2: added appendix with technical details, some minor improvements