Item

Abstract

In this thesis, we present conformally symmetric models to address the gauge hierarchy problem and other beyond Standard Model (BSM) problems in high-energy physics. After introducing the concepts of conformal, and scale symmetry, we review radiative scale generation, the trace anomaly, and the hierarchy problem. We employ these concepts in the form of a model, where the radiative breaking of scale symmetry denotes the sole dynamical origin for both the Planck mass and the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking. We find that it is natural to include proposed solutions to other problems of BSM physics, namely dark matter, and active neutrino mass, as well as describing cosmological inflation, in good agreement with the currently strongest experimental constraints. Further investigating the gravitational contribution to symmetry breaking in the aforementioned context, we extract the infamous spin-2 ghost degree of freedom from the Weyl tensor squared contribution and find it to induce an essential contribution to not only scale generation with a more minimal scalar sector but also to maintaining experimentally favored predictions. Finally, we leverage the scaling behavior of strongly coupled conformally symmetric theories to provide a general framework of UV completion for Little Higgs models.