Boundedness from below in the $U(1)\times U(1)$ three-Higgs-Doublet model

Abstract

Establishing if multi-Higgs potentials are bounded from below (BFB) can be rather challenging, and it may impede efficient investigation of all phenomenological consequences of such models. In this paper, we find the necessary and sufficient BFB conditions for the Three-Higgs-Doublet model (3HDM) with the global symmetry group $U(1)\times U(1)$. We observed an important role played by charge-breaking directions in the Higgs space, even for situations when a good-looking neutral minimum exists. This remark is not limited to the particular model we consider but represents a rather general feature of elaborate multi-Higgs potentials which must be carefully dealt with. Also, applying this method to Weinberg's model (the $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetric 3HDM) turned out to be more challenging than was believed in the literature. In particular, we have found that the approach taken in a paper from 2009 does not lead to the necessary and sufficient BFB conditions for this case.