Evidence for the dynamical generation of naturally light fermion masses

 We present a numerical study of a model where a $SU(2)$ doublet of non-abelian strongly interacting fermions is coupled to a complex scalar field doublet via a Yukawa and an irrelevant Wilson-like term. Despite the presence of these two chiral breaking operators in the Lagrangian, an exact symmetry, acting on all fields, prevents UV power divergent fermion mass corrections. In the phase where fermions are massless (Wigner phase) the Yukawa coupling can be set at a critical value where fermion chiral transformations become symmetries of the theory (up to cutoff effects). Numerical simulations of the critical theory in the Nambu-Goldstone phase give evidence for the non-perturbative generation of a UV finite fermion mass term. We shall elaborate on possible consequences of exploiting this dynamical mass generation phenomenon as an alternative to the Higgs mechanism.