{
  "abstract": "We provide a manifestly gauge-invariant description of the Higgs mechanism in the Standard Model, casting it not as the breaking of a local symmetry, but as a smooth, analytic crossover from a high-temperature symmetric phase to a low-temperature Higgs phase. Taking the vacuum expectation value of a gauge-invariant local scalar operator and constructing composite quasi-particle states from the original fields of the Lagrangian usually introduces contact-term divergences. Previous attempts to circumvent this issue via bilocal operators remain unsatisfactory. Here we demonstrate that the gradient flow at a flow time $t$ provides a clean, structurally sound, and Lorentz-covariant regularization that permits a consistent, renormalon-free matching onto the standard $\\overline{\\text{MS}}$ scheme at a scale $μ\\sim 1/\\sqrt{2t}\\gg m_t$. Beyond its theoretical appeal, this construction clarifies a number of conceptional and practical questions. We demonstrate the utility of this framework at the one-loop level, thereby establishing the foundation for future electroweak precision physics in this approach.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.12877",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Gunnar S. Bali"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/455mbwwz4bke9.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.12877",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "455mbwwz4bke9",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.12877",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-lat"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-th"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7212900172",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.12877",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-15",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/455mbwwz4bke9.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:41Z",
      "native_id": "2609.12877",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.12877"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-lat",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Gauge-invariant Higgs mechanism via gradient-flow regularization",
  "title_text": "Gauge-invariant Higgs mechanism via gradient-flow regularization",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/455mbwwz4bke9",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}