Higgs Mass and Other Particles

RJ Emery

If the Higgs boson imparts mass to other particles, does it not itself lose mass and energy in the process? As it does its thing, could not the Higgs than transform itself to a different particle, one that may have already been seen, perhaps down to a point particle with no mass?

tiny-tim

the higgs field imparts mass to other particles

btw, can anyone tell me …

what imparts charge to charged particles??

TrickyDicky

Good question, along with: what imparts spin,.... any property to particles?
I think the key here is that charge of the particles didn't break the symmetry of the SM as masses did. But someone who actually know about particle physics should clarify it.

tiny-tim

ah, i see someone else has started a thread on this …

PhilDSP

The most easy to understand answer (and admittedly it's only a beginning) is that in Yukawa theory the meson carries the charge between the proton and neutron or vice versa.

Yukawa's Noble prize lecture:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_priz...wa-lecture.pdf

Deeper of course is how fractions of a charge are exchanged in QCD and the theory of Quarks and how spins are involved

tiny-tim

link obsolete …

"Nobelprize.org launched a new web site in June 2010. This can make your bookmarks disappear."

try http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_priz...wa-lecture.pdf

RJ Emery

OK. Please explain to me the difference between the Higgs boson/particle and the Higgs field.

In a video for laymen (of which I am one), Daniel Whiteson (an experimental physicist working at CERN) said "The Higgs is the particle responsible for giving mass to other particles." Hence the genesis of my original question in this thread.

tiny-tim

the higgs particle is a particle, the higgs field is a field
do you mean the video made with jorge cham of phd comicsm, at http://io9.com/daniel-whiteson/ ?

yes, at http://www.phdcomics.com/higgs/index.php?page=6 he says that it's the higgs particle

but immediately after that, at http://www.phdcomics.com/higgs/index.php?page=7 he says that it's the higgs field

RJ Emery

I take it you don't know the difference either.

That was the basis for my question raised in this post.

I await an answer from a more knowledgeable responder.

tkav1980

Isn't a particle just a small packet or excited state of a field? Wouldnt that mean that the Higgs particle IS the Higgs field in a local state of excitement?

Sorry, I'm not a physicist, just interrested.