The radial problem in gauge field theory models

The study of spontaneous symmetry breaking patterns in theories in which the ground state is determined by the minima of a potential invariant under the symmetry group of the system may be traced back to the solution of two classes of problems, that we shall quote in Tolédano and Dmitriev's suggestive words [P. Tolédano, V. Dmitriev, Reconstructive Phase Transitions in Crystals and Quasicrystals, World Scientific, Singapore, 1996] as angular and radial problem, respectively. Whilst the former problem, i.e., the determination of the isotropy-type stratification, has been extensively treated both in condensed matter physics and in particle physics, the radial problem, in particular the construction of the phenomenological potential allowing the realization of all the symmetry allowed symmetry phases, has up to now substantially been disregarded in gauge field theory, because renormalizability limits to four the degree of the Higgs potential and it is widely thought that spontaneous radiative mass generation can anyway fix the issue. Through a rigorous analysis in the framework of geometric invariant theory (P^-matrix approach) we review these facts, focussing our attention on the role of radiative corrections. Then, we propose a way of reconciling renormalizability requirement and tree-level observability of all the phases allowed by the symmetry. The idea will be illustrated in simple extensions of two-Higgs-doublet SM, with additional scalar singlets and discrete symmetries. This will allow us to explain the rationale behind all the extensions of the Higgs sectors so far proposed to generate the observed Baryon asymmetry of our Universe at the EW Phase Transition.