A model of electroweak symmetry breaking from a fifth dimension

We reconsider the idea of identifying the Higgs field as the internal component of a gauge field in the flat space $R^4\times S^1/\Z_2$, by relaxing the constraint of having unbroken SO(4,1) Lorentz symmetry in the bulk. In this way, we show that the main common problems of previous models of this sort, namely the prediction of a too light Higgs and top mass, as well as of a too low compactification scale, are all solved. We mainly focus our attention on a previously constructed model. We show how, with few minor modifications and by relaxing the requirement of SO(4,1) symmetry, a potentially realistic model can be obtained with a moderate tuning in the parameter space of the theory. In this model, the Higgs potential is stabilized and the hierarchy of fermion masses explained.