Spontaneous breakdown of CP in left-right symmetric models

Abstract

We show that it is possible to obtain spontaneous CP violation in the minimal $SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_{B-L}$, i.e. in a left right symmetric model containing a bidoublet and two triplets in the scalar sector. For this to be a natural scenario, the non-diagonal quartic couplings between the two scalar triplets and the bidoublet play a fundamental role. We analyze the corresponding Higgs spectrum, the suppression of FCNC's and the manifestation of the spontaneous CP phase in the electric dipole moment of the electron.

22 pages, 1 postcript figure