Higgs mechanism

E30247

The Higgs mechanism is a process in particle physics that explains how fundamental particles acquire mass through their interaction with the Higgs field.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf physical mechanism
theoretical construct in particle physics
associatedWith Higgs boson
avoids massless Goldstone bosons in gauge theories
basedOn Higgs field
breaks symmetry of the vacuum state
category symmetry breaking mechanism
centralTo Standard Model electroweak sector
describes generation of mass for fundamental particles
doesNotExplain mass of photon
energyScale electroweak scale
explains masses of W boson and Z boson
nonzero rest mass of elementary particles
field particle physics
framework quantum field theory
givesMassTo W boson
Z boson
charged leptons
quarks
hasConsequence short range of weak nuclear force
implementedIn Standard Model of particle physics
involves Yukawa interactions
electroweak symmetry breaking
spontaneous symmetry breaking
mathematicallyFormalizedIn gauge theories with spontaneous symmetry breaking
partOf electroweak theory
predictionConfirmedBy discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider
predicts existence of a scalar boson
preserves local gauge invariance
renormalizability of the theory
proposalYear 1964
proposedBy Carl Richard Hagen
François Englert
Gerald Guralnik
Peter Higgs
Robert Brout
Tom Kibble
relatedTo Brout–Englert–Higgs mechanism
requires nonzero vacuum expectation value
symmetry of the Lagrangian
resultsIn mass terms for fermions via Yukawa couplings
mass terms for gauge bosons
nonzero vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field
typicallyDoesNotGiveMassTo gluon
photon
usedFor unification of electromagnetic and weak interactions
uses Mexican hat potential
complex scalar field

Referenced by (19)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Carl Hagen
Gerald Guralnik
Gerald Guralnik ("Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble paper on broken symmetries")
Peter Higgs
Robert Brout ("Brout–Englert–Higgs mechanism")
Tom Kibble
Tom Kibble ("Kibble mechanism")
knownFor
François Englert
François Englert ("Englert–Brout–Higgs–Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble mechanism")
Tom Kibble ("Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble paper on symmetry breaking")
notableWork
Gerald Guralnik ("Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble 1964 paper on broken symmetry and mass of gauge bosons")
coAuthorOf
Gerald Guralnik
coDiscovererOf
Higgs field
hasMechanism
Standard Model
includesMechanism
Higgs boson
mechanism
Higgs mechanism ("Brout–Englert–Higgs mechanism")
relatedTo
Peter Higgs
theory
Robert Brout ("Brout–Englert–Higgs mechanism")
theoryDeveloped
Salam–Weinberg model
uses

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