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  • Open Access

Selection toolkit for standard and non-standard GUTs

Giacomo Cacciapaglia* and Konstantinos Kollias†

Aldo Deandrea‡

Francesco Sannino§

  • *Contact author: cacciapa@lpthe.jussieu.fr
  • †Contact author: kkollias@clipper.ens.psl.eu
  • ‡Contact author: deandrea@ip2i.in2p3.fr
  • §Contact author: sannino@qtc.sdu.dk

Phys. Rev. D 113, 075043 – Published 30 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/395g-tl4h

Abstract

Under a reasonable set of ab initio assumptions, we define and chart the atlas of simple gauge theories with families of fermions whose masses are forbidden by gauge invariance. We propose a compass to navigate the atlas based on counting degrees of freedom. When searching for Grand Unification Theories with three matter generations, the free energy singles out the SU(5) Georgi-Glashow model as the minimal one, closely followed by SO(10) with spinorial matter. The atlas also defines the dryland of grand-unifiable gauge extensions of the standard model. We further provide examples relevant for gauge dual completions of the standard model as well as extensions by an additional SU(N) gauge symmetry.

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