Exact identification of the radion and its coupling to the observable sector

Braneworld models in extra dimensions can be tested in laboratory by the coupling of the radion to the standard model fields. The identification of the radion as a canonically normalized field involves a careful general relativity treatment: if a bulk scalar is responsible for the stabilization of the system, its fluctuations are entangled with the perturbations of the metric and they also have to be taken into account (similarly to the well-developed theory of scalar metric perturbations in 4D cosmology with a scalar field). Extracting a proper dynamical variable in a warped geometry/scalar setting is a nontrivial task, performed so far only in the limit of negligible backreaction of the scalar field on the background geometry. We perform the general calculation, diagonalizing the action up to second order in the perturbations and identifying the physical eigenmodes of the system for any amplitude of the bulk scalar. This computation allows us to derive a very simple expression for the exact coupling of the eigenmodes to the standard model fields on the brane, valid for an arbitrary background configuration. As an application, we discuss the Goldberger-Wise mechanism for the stabilization of the radion in the Randall-Sundrum-type models. The existing studies, limited to small amplitude of the bulk scalar field, are characterized by a radion mass which is significantly below the physical scale at the observable brane. We extend them beyond the small backreaction regime. For intermediate amplitudes, the radion mass approaches the electroweak scale, while its coupling to the observable brane remains nearly constant. At very high amplitudes, the radion mass instead decreases, while the coupling sharply increases. Severe experimental constraints are expected in this regime.