A General Higgs Sector: Constraints and Phenomenology

We have investigated some phenomenological aspects of an SU(2)× U(1) scenario where scalars belonging to arbitrary representations of SU(2) are involved in electroweak symmetry breaking. The resulting interaction terms are derived. Some constraints are obtained on the arbitrary scalar sector from the requirement of tree-level unitarity in longitudinal gauge boson scattering. We also show that, in cases where the scalars ensure ρ = 1 at tree-level, useful restrictions on their parameter space follow from precision measurements of the Zbb̄ vertex. Finally, some salient features about the production of such Higgs bosons in e+e− collision are discussed.