- #1
jbar18
- 53
- 0
Hi all,
Having looked into the Higgs mechanism a bit (I am a physics undergrad, so my understanding is pretty basic if even correct), I have come up with a question. I understand that the way that the Higgs field gives mass to the W and Z bosons is different to the way that it gives leptons their mass, and the most accessible description of how leptons gain their mass is that the Higgs boson allows leptons to change their helicity. In the standard model, if leptons could not change their helicity, they would be massless. The Higgs boson essentially allows them to get away with changing their helicity, and the frequency with which they do this is related to their mass. The top quark supposedly flips its helicity very often, the electron not so much. That is my understanding so far anyway.
My question is this: When we change reference frame so that particles are moving very quickly, their mass appears to increase. I am wondering what implications this has for the Higgs mechanism - it would seem to imply that particles interact more heavily with the Higgs field if they are moving faster relative to you, but this sounds like nonsense for obvious reasons. I couldn't help but notice that there is no dependency of the other coupling constants on the choice of reference frame (charge is the same even if you move it quickly), but mass does appear to be dependent. Is the answer to this question known, and if so, is it insightful in any way?
My first thought is that the frequency of interaction of particles with the Higgs field would appear to increase due to time dilation, and if mass is proportional to this frequency, it would surely explain the phenomenon.
Thanks
Having looked into the Higgs mechanism a bit (I am a physics undergrad, so my understanding is pretty basic if even correct), I have come up with a question. I understand that the way that the Higgs field gives mass to the W and Z bosons is different to the way that it gives leptons their mass, and the most accessible description of how leptons gain their mass is that the Higgs boson allows leptons to change their helicity. In the standard model, if leptons could not change their helicity, they would be massless. The Higgs boson essentially allows them to get away with changing their helicity, and the frequency with which they do this is related to their mass. The top quark supposedly flips its helicity very often, the electron not so much. That is my understanding so far anyway.
My question is this: When we change reference frame so that particles are moving very quickly, their mass appears to increase. I am wondering what implications this has for the Higgs mechanism - it would seem to imply that particles interact more heavily with the Higgs field if they are moving faster relative to you, but this sounds like nonsense for obvious reasons. I couldn't help but notice that there is no dependency of the other coupling constants on the choice of reference frame (charge is the same even if you move it quickly), but mass does appear to be dependent. Is the answer to this question known, and if so, is it insightful in any way?
My first thought is that the frequency of interaction of particles with the Higgs field would appear to increase due to time dilation, and if mass is proportional to this frequency, it would surely explain the phenomenon.
Thanks