The No-Higgs Signal: Strong WW Scattering at the LHC

Abstract

Strong WW scattering at the LHC is discussed as a manifestation of electroweak symmetry breaking in the absence of a light Higgs boson. The general framework of the Higgs mechanism -- with or without a Higgs boson -- is reviewed, and unitarity is shown to fix the scale of strong WW scattering. Strong WW scattering is also shown to be a possible outcome of five-dimensional models, which do not employ the usual Higgs mechanism at the TeV scale. Precision electroweak constraints are briefly discussed. Illustrative LHC signals are reviewed for models with QCD-like dynamics, stressing the complementarity of the W^{\pm}Z and like-charge W^+W^+ + W^-W^- channels.

Comments: 16 pages, talk presented at Physics at LHC, July 13 - 17, 2004, Vienna, Austria, to be published in the proceedings