Cosmological constant in scale-invariant theories

Abstract

The incorporation of a small cosmological constant within radiatively-broken scale-invariant models is discussed. We show that phenomenologically consistent scale-invariant models can be constructed which allow a small positive cosmological constant, providing certain relation between the particle masses is satisfied. As a result, the mass of the dilaton is generated at two-loop level. Another interesting consequence is that the electroweak symmetry-breaking vacuum in such models is necessarily a metastable `false' vacuum which, fortunately, is not expected to decay on cosmological time scales.

Comments: 10 pages; v2: clarifying remarks added, to appear in Physical Review D