Stability and symmetry breaking in the general three-Higgs-doublet model

Abstract: Stability, electroweak symmetry breaking, and the stationarity equations of the general three-Higgs-doublet model (3HDM) where all doublets carry the same hypercharge are discussed in detail. Employing the bilinear formalism the study of the 3HDM potential turns out to be straightforward. For the case that the potential leads to the physically relevant electroweak symmetry breaking we present explicit formulae for the masses of the physical Higgs bosons.