VIABLE RANGE OF THE MASS SCALE OF THE STANDARD MODEL

In theories in which different regions of the universe can have differ ent values of certain physical parameters, we would naturally find our selves in a region where they take values favorable for life. We explo re the range of such viable values of the mass parameter in the Higgs potential, mu(2). For mu(2)<0, the requirement that complex elements b e formed suggests that the Higgs vacuum expectation value nu must have a magnitude less than 5 times its observed value. For mu(2)>0, baryon stability requires that /mu/<<M-p, the Planck mass. Smaller values of /mu(2)/ may or may not be allowed depending on issues of element synt hesis and stellar evolution. We conclude that the observed value of mu (2) appears reasonably typical of the viable range, and a multiple-dom ain scenario may provide a plausible explanation for the closeness of the QCD scale and the weak scale.