arxiv: 2604.25874 · v1 · submitted 2026-04-28 · ✦ hep-ph

Precision predictions for trilinear scalar couplings and Higgs pair production in models with extended scalar sectors

Johannes Braathen This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-07 15:45 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification ✦ hep-ph

keywords trilinear scalar couplingsHiggs pair productionextended scalar sectorsprecision calculationsBSM modelsHiggs potentialelectroweak phase transition

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The pith

Precise predictions for trilinear scalar couplings and Higgs pair production are now available in extended scalar sector models.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

Reconstructing the Higgs potential requires accurate theory inputs for the trilinear scalar couplings that shape it and for the Higgs pair production rates that serve as the experimental probe. In models with additional scalars beyond the Standard Model, these inputs must include higher-order corrections to be useful at current and future colliders. The paper summarises recent calculations that deliver such precision for both the couplings and the production processes at the high-luminosity LHC. These results allow collider data to constrain the form of the potential and to test the dynamics of the electroweak phase transition.

Core claim

Recent advances in perturbative calculations now yield precise values for trilinear scalar couplings and for Higgs pair production cross sections in BSM models with extended scalar sectors, providing the theoretical accuracy needed to extract the realised Higgs potential from (HL-)LHC measurements.

What carries the argument

Higher-order loop corrections to trilinear scalar couplings and to di-Higgs production amplitudes in extended scalar models.

If this is right

Collider searches for di-Higgs final states can place tighter bounds on the parameters of extended scalar models.
The shape of the Higgs potential, including its implications for the electroweak phase transition, becomes accessible through these observables.
Different realisations of extended scalar sectors can be distinguished by comparing predicted coupling strengths and production rates.
Precision inputs reduce the theoretical uncertainty in interpreting any observed deviations from Standard Model expectations.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

The same calculational techniques may be applied to other scalar-mediated processes in the same models.
Results could guide the design of analyses at future colliders operating at higher energies or luminosities.
Connections to cosmology, such as the strength of the electroweak phase transition, become more quantitative once the potential parameters are better known.

Load-bearing premise

The chosen BSM models with extended scalars remain theoretically consistent and permit reliable computation of higher-order corrections without divergences or other obstacles.

What would settle it

Higgs pair production rates measured at the HL-LHC that differ from the predicted values by an amount larger than the quoted theoretical and experimental uncertainties.

read the original abstract

Reconstructing the shape of the Higgs potential realised in Nature is one of the most pressing tasks of current and future colliders. This will offer deep insights into the dynamics of the electroweak phase transition and provide a unique opportunity to probe physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). In this context, it is essential to have precise theory predictions for trilinear scalar couplings, which control the form of the potential, and for Higgs pair production processes, which are the observables that allow accessing the trilinear couplings. I summarise in these proceedings recent progress in precision calculations of both trilinear scalar couplings and Higgs pair production at the (HL-)LHC in BSM models with extended scalar sectors.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

This is a proceedings summary recapping recent progress on precision predictions for trilinear scalar couplings and Higgs pair production without new results.

read the letter

This paper is a proceedings summary that recaps recent progress on precision predictions for trilinear scalar couplings and Higgs pair production in models with extended scalar sectors. It does not introduce any new calculations or results. What stands out is the clear motivation it gives for why these predictions matter. Reconstructing the Higgs potential requires good theory control over the trilinear terms and the di-Higgs rates at the HL-LHC, and the note points to where higher-order corrections have been computed in various BSM setups. That overview can be handy for keeping track of the literature. The main limitation is that it is purely a summary. There are no original derivations, no detailed breakdowns of the methods or uncertainties in this text, and no new checks on the quoted precisions. Everything rests on the papers it cites, so the strength here is only as good as those external works. The topic itself is solid, but this document adds little beyond aggregation. This is the sort of thing that might interest a small group of people working on BSM Higgs phenomenology who want a quick status report before diving into the details themselves. It is not aimed at a broad audience or at readers seeking primary sources. I would not bring it to a general reading group, and I would not cite it for any specific result in my own papers. It does not seem to need or deserve a full peer review process, as there is no new claim being advanced that requires external validation. Recommendation: Treat it as a conference proceedings contribution and move on without sending it out for refereeing.

Referee Report

0 major / 0 minor

Summary. The manuscript is a proceedings summary emphasizing that precise theory predictions for trilinear scalar couplings (which control the Higgs potential) and Higgs pair production (the key observable to access them) are essential for reconstructing the Higgs potential and probing BSM physics. It reviews recent progress on such calculations in models with extended scalar sectors at the (HL-)LHC.

Significance. If the referenced calculations are reliable, the paper offers a useful community overview of the current status of precision predictions in extended Higgs sectors, highlighting their role in electroweak phase transition studies and BSM searches. As a summary it does not introduce new derivations or results but effectively consolidates the motivation and status of the field.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

0 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the positive assessment of our manuscript and the recommendation to accept. We appreciate the recognition that the work provides a useful community overview of precision predictions for trilinear scalar couplings and Higgs pair production in extended scalar sectors.

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity: proceedings summary with no derivations

full rationale

The manuscript is a proceedings summary of prior calculations on trilinear scalar couplings and Higgs pair production in extended scalar sectors. It presents no original equations, renormalization schemes, model assumptions, or computational steps that could form a derivation chain. The central statement is a call for precise predictions rather than a result derived from inputs. No self-citations, fitted parameters, or ansatze are invoked in a load-bearing way within the text itself.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 1 axioms · 0 invented entities

The summary relies on standard assumptions of perturbative quantum field theory in extended scalar sectors, including the validity of the effective potential approach and the absence of strong coupling at collider scales. No new free parameters or invented entities are introduced in the abstract itself.

axioms (1)

domain assumption Perturbative expansion in the couplings of extended scalar sectors remains valid up to the scales probed by the HL-LHC.
Invoked implicitly when claiming precision predictions are feasible.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5406 in / 1252 out tokens · 24511 ms · 2026-05-07T15:45:50.757696+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

17 extracted references · 3 canonical work pages · 1 internal anchor

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