|
Glossary
The Higgs Fields (after Peter Higgs) are hypothetical scalar fields introduced into Grand Unified Theories to maintain gauge invariance for "particles" with "mass". Indeed it is the coupling of the "matter field" ("particle") to the Higgs Field that leads to the thing we call "mass". There is a nice Analogy of Higgs Fields & Particles by David Miller (UCL). There is a Higgs Field for each of the 24 fundamental particles. Each of the fundamental particles is thought of as a bundle of energy of the field. The Higgs Fields are symmetric about their zero points, but the potential has a positive value at this point. Instead the potential is zero at some non-zero value of the field. It is the shape of this potential which enable spontaneous symmetry breaking to occur.
|