- #1
rpthomps
- 182
- 19
Hello,
I am a layman who just read Sean Carroll's The Particle at the End of the Universe and I am trying to understand what I think is the crux of the book, the need for the Higg's boson according to the Standard model. This is my thought process:
1. The weak interaction only interacts with left-handed fermions
2. The above implies the weak bosons are massless because only bosons which are massless can travel at light speed and therefore observe only one type of helicity
3. Experimentally, however the weak bosons are shown to have mass due to the their limited range of interaction.
4. Therefore, mass can't be inherent to the W and Z bosons but rather acquired through the interaction of another field. (i.e. the Higg's Field)
Is my thought process even remotely close?
Thanks
Ryan
I am a layman who just read Sean Carroll's The Particle at the End of the Universe and I am trying to understand what I think is the crux of the book, the need for the Higg's boson according to the Standard model. This is my thought process:
1. The weak interaction only interacts with left-handed fermions
2. The above implies the weak bosons are massless because only bosons which are massless can travel at light speed and therefore observe only one type of helicity
3. Experimentally, however the weak bosons are shown to have mass due to the their limited range of interaction.
4. Therefore, mass can't be inherent to the W and Z bosons but rather acquired through the interaction of another field. (i.e. the Higg's Field)
Is my thought process even remotely close?
Thanks
Ryan