What is Higgs: Definition and 682 Discussions

In the Standard Model of particle physics, the Higgs mechanism is essential to explain the generation mechanism of the property "mass" for gauge bosons. Without the Higgs mechanism, all bosons (one of the two classes of particles, the other being fermions) would be considered massless, but measurements show that the W+, W−, and Z0 bosons actually have relatively large masses of around 80 GeV/c2. The Higgs field resolves this conundrum. The simplest description of the mechanism adds a quantum field (the Higgs field) that permeates all space to the Standard Model. Below some extremely high temperature, the field causes spontaneous symmetry breaking during interactions. The breaking of symmetry triggers the Higgs mechanism, causing the bosons it interacts with to have mass. In the Standard Model, the phrase "Higgs mechanism" refers specifically to the generation of masses for the W±, and Z weak gauge bosons through electroweak symmetry breaking. The Large Hadron Collider at CERN announced results consistent with the Higgs particle on 14 March 2013, making it extremely likely that the field, or one like it, exists, and explaining how the Higgs mechanism takes place in nature.
The mechanism was proposed in 1962 by Philip Warren Anderson, following work in the late 1950s on symmetry breaking in superconductivity and a 1960 paper by Yoichiro Nambu that discussed its application within particle physics.
A theory able to finally explain mass generation without "breaking" gauge theory was published almost simultaneously by three independent groups in 1964: by Robert Brout and François Englert; by Peter Higgs; and by Gerald Guralnik, C. R. Hagen, and Tom Kibble. The Higgs mechanism is therefore also called the Brout–Englert–Higgs mechanism, or Englert–Brout–Higgs–Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble mechanism, Anderson–Higgs mechanism, Anderson–Higgs–Kibble mechanism, Higgs–Kibble mechanism by Abdus Salam and ABEGHHK'tH mechanism (for Anderson, Brout, Englert, Guralnik, Hagen, Higgs, Kibble, and 't Hooft) by Peter Higgs. The Higgs mechanism in electrodynamics was also discovered independently by Eberly and Reiss in reverse
as the "gauge" Dirac field mass gain due to the artificially displaced electromagnetic field as a Higgs field.On 8 October 2013, following the discovery at CERN's Large Hadron Collider of a new particle that appeared to be the long-sought Higgs boson predicted by the theory, it was announced that Peter Higgs and François Englert had been awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics.

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  1. T

    Implications of Higgs Particle on Physics

    Could someone please summarize what are the implications to Physics if the Higgs particle is 1. Discovered roughly as predicted. 2. Not detected at CERN at these energy levels. 3. Never detected. Would I be correct in saying that the Higgs particle is a predicted particle in the...
  2. S

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    Hi PF Does the discovery of the Higgs Boson mean anything to string theory ? Does it falscify or verify the theory, or is it completely irrelavant for the theory? \Schreiber
  3. R

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  4. L

    Top and W radiative corrections and the Higgs Mass

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  5. R

    Exploring the Existence of the Higgs Field: Beliefs and Debates

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  6. J

    Higgs mass from electroweak measurements

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  7. P

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  8. F

    A good video on the Higgs Boson

  9. nomadreid

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  10. R

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  11. T

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  12. E

    Suppose gravitons and Higgs were quasiparticles like phonons

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  13. J

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  14. T

    WW Fusion in Higgs Production: Is it Possible in the Lab Frame?

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  15. arivero

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  16. E

    Electroweak symmetry breaking without Higgs boson?

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  17. S

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  18. D

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  19. J

    Exploring the Higgs Boson: Uncovering the Mystery

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  20. J

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  21. marcus

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  22. E

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  23. J

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  24. marcus

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  25. F

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  26. FeDeX_LaTeX

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  27. rhody

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  28. srfriggen

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  29. P

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  33. K

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  34. edpell

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  35. M

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  36. C

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  37. B

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  38. C

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  39. D

    How Does the Higgs Field Affect Particle Speeds in Feynman Diagrams?

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  40. J

    Is the Higgs Vacuum Energy-Momentum Affected by Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking?

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  41. H

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  42. T

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  43. rhody

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  44. R

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  45. J

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  46. edpell

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  47. R

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  48. inflector

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  49. E

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  50. E

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