The Higgs scalar field with no massive Higgs particle

The postulate that all massless elementary fields have conformal Weyl local scaling symmetry has remarkable consequences for both cosmology and elementary particle physics. Conformal symmetry couples scalar and gravitational fields. Implications for the scalar field of a conformal Higgs model are considered here. The energy-momentum tensor of a conformal Higgs scalar field determines a cosmological constant. It has recently been shown that this accounts for the observed magnitude of dark energy. The gravitational field equation forces the energy density to be finite, which precludes spontaneous destabilization of the vacuum state. Scalar field fluctuations would define a Higgs tachyon rather than a massive particle, consistent with the ongoing failure to observe such a particle.