[Tormod]

In a recent edition of New Scientist there was an article about the search for the Higgs particle. The Higgs particle is predicted by the Standard Theory of particle physics, and is assumed to be the mass-carrier, that is, it gives other particles mass.

The article states that the Higgs parcticle is calculated to have a mass in the range between 114 to 211 gigaelectronvolts.

In the latest issue, a reader writes to New Scientist and and asks, "What gives the Higgs particle its mass? Or does it pervade itself and so is self-fulfilling?"

As I was reading the article I had the exact same question. If the Higgs particle does indeed provide all other particles with mass, there must be enormous numbers of it, and it still has not been observed. I have seen illustrations of it where charges go back and forth between the Higgs and any other particle, in and endless dance.

It all sounds like a theoretical construct to me. Does anyone here know how exactly how the Higgs particle provides mass to other particles, and how come it has a mass of its own?

Tormod

[Roberto]

Hi, Tormod.

I was reading around the forum and found your question. Well, let me try to help you. The issue is not so simple and I have a lot of doubts too, but let me share a little of what I know with you.

The mechanism by which the particles acquire mass by means of the Higgs Field is known as the Higgs Mechanism. It works more or less in this way: a basic thing in quantum field theory (QFT) is what is called the vaccum state. The vacuum is a state where all the fields involved in some interaction have their minimum value of potential energy, generally they have vaccum expectation value equal to zero. (We use expectation values instead of simply the value of the field because they can have quantum fluctuations). The Higgs Field is a field that pervades all space but has a vaccum expectation value (vev) different from zero. Worst indeed, it has an infinitude of different vevs with some symetry between them. But to study a theory, we need to choose one vaccum and the symmetry is broken, what is known as an "spontaneous symmetry breaking".What happens is that when the symmetry is broken, particles arise: some have mass and some not.

All this is very mathematical and may seems difficult to understand, but the important is that fields interacting with the Higgs Field acquire mass due to this symmetry breaking. Note that I spoke about Higgs Field and not Higgs Boson. The Higgs Boson is a particle that appears AFTER the symmetry breaking and it may exist even if there isn´t other fields present because the Higgs Field has the interesting property (that gravity has too) that it can interact with itself. This self-interaction makes the Higgs Boson appears and acquire mass.

I must warn you that I may be skipping some details, but as I said, I´m just sharing the little I know. I hope it would be helpful.

[Tormod]

Roberto, you are a gold mine for these forums.

Yes, it makes perfect sense to think of these things in terms of "fields". I guess the wave/particle duality we have talked about before sometimes tricks the mind into thinking about particles when indeed we are talking about energy fields.

Thanks!

Tormod

[Roberto]

Originally posted by: Tormod
Roberto, you are a gold mine for these forums.

Thanks a lot, Tormod, but I´m just trying to help. When I was younger I didn´t have forums to ask my questions about physics and I had to find the answers by myself. Today, I see people with the same questions and I´m happy to share with them the partial answers that we have found about the nature. And I´m having a lot of fun with the forums.

I hope I can continue to debate things here, it helps me to clear my doubts too.

[Tim_Lou]

energy field?? isnt all energy carried by particles?? so energy field still has something to do with particles, right?

hmm, maybe i know too little about energy, please point it out if i am wrong.

[Roberto]

Energy field is not technically correct, because the fields are not made of energy, indeed they have energy. But energy is not something that is only associated with particles. Energy can be carried by waves, can be stored in chenical bonds or coils, can be in the form of matter... Energy is a very complex and very interesting concept in physics.

[dsanthosh]

I want the experimental setup for the discovery of j-psi particle in brookhaven laboratory