- #1
jeebs
- 325
- 4
This might be a bit of a naive question but I am only just starting to learn the very basics of this stuff.
I'm hearing about being able to account for the mass of, well, massive particles, by saying that in our cool universe, there is this field pervading all of space that certain particles(fields?) can couple to that causes a resistance when they attempt to accelerate.
So, that made me think, what actually is making this drag happen? I mean, the Higgs boson (ie. the quantum of the Higgs field) is also supposed to have mass, right? If we have a massive particle having its acceleration hindered because it has to push its way through a load of particles that have mass, then aren't we just going in circles by invoking something that has mass to explain the mass of the familiar particles?
I am aware of how ignorant this question probably is... :)
I'm hearing about being able to account for the mass of, well, massive particles, by saying that in our cool universe, there is this field pervading all of space that certain particles(fields?) can couple to that causes a resistance when they attempt to accelerate.
So, that made me think, what actually is making this drag happen? I mean, the Higgs boson (ie. the quantum of the Higgs field) is also supposed to have mass, right? If we have a massive particle having its acceleration hindered because it has to push its way through a load of particles that have mass, then aren't we just going in circles by invoking something that has mass to explain the mass of the familiar particles?
I am aware of how ignorant this question probably is... :)