Speaker
Description
We investigate a classically conformal extension of the Standard Model Higgs sector as a solution to the gauge hierarchy problem, in which electroweak symmetry breaking proceeds radiatively via the Gildener–Weinberg mechanism. In the minimal realization, two additional scalars are introduced: the first acquires a vacuum expectation value and mixes with the Standard Model Higgs, while the second stabilizes the scalar potential and serves as a dark matter candidate. We perform a systematic analysis of constraints from collider searches, Higgs signal strength measurements, relic density, and direct detection. We further discuss the possibility that adopting a freeze-in production mechanism, rather than the conventional freeze-out assumption, could reopen a substantial region of parameter space otherwise closed by observational constraints, potentially revealing a new viable window for this class of models.