# Is it interesting to ask why the Higgs vacuum expectation has its particular value?

By interesting, I mean more interesting than asking why any of the free parameters of the SM (electron mass, CP-violating phase, etc) have their particular values. The vacuum expectation value $\nu \approx 246\ \mathrm{GeV}$ is said to set the scale of EWSB and is related to the Fermi constant $G_F$ and of course the Higgs couplings.

But why does it assume the value 246 GeV in particular? Perhaps I just don't have the correct search vocabulary, but I have had a hard time finding any discussion about this both on the internet and in the published literature. Most discussions simply state that this value has been known experimentally for decades. Is this a "natural" value, or is its value even subject to questions of naturalness? Do model builders of more complete/unified theories attempt to synthesize this particular value through phenomena not resolved by the effective regime of the SM?

• I previously asked this in a comment, and was told that the VEV should be viewed as a given, but from reading since then, I think it was predicted from theoretical work, but the figure was way too low. – user108787 Oct 4 '16 at 7:41
• Actually I think this points to physics beyond the standard model (SM). It is believed (or hoped) that there would be some theory (at a higher energy scale) in terms of which the parameters of the SM can be explained through dynamics (perhaps). – flippiefanus Oct 4 '16 at 11:14
• @flippiefanus that's what I suspect and what the question is really getting at. Would love to see some actual technical discussion of it though, if you have a source. – chase Oct 4 '16 at 21:16