Can a W+ boson couple to a W- boson?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the possibility of a W+ boson coupling to a W- boson, particularly in the context of Higgs decay into these bosons. Participants explore the theoretical framework, including the Lagrangian density for such interactions and the evaluation of related Feynman diagrams.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether a W+ boson can couple to a W- boson and seeks the Lagrangian density for this interaction.
  • Another participant notes that such interactions appear in the Lagrangian after electroweak symmetry breaking and are proportional to the Higgs vacuum expectation value (vev), suggesting they can be treated in perturbation theory.
  • It is mentioned that the Higgs boson (125 GeV) is too light to decay into two on-shell W bosons (80 GeV), implying that at least one W boson must be off-shell in this process.
  • A participant adds that similar couplings can also arise in processes involving ZWW, ZZWW, and WWWW interactions.
  • Another contribution discusses the Lagrangian density for W- and W+ interactions, referencing the non-abelian gauge group theories and the role of the Higgs potential term in these interactions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the specifics of the interactions and the implications of the Higgs decay, indicating that multiple competing views remain and the discussion is not resolved.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations regarding the mass constraints of the Higgs and W bosons, as well as the dependence on the definitions of the Lagrangian terms and the treatment of off-shell particles.

c++guru
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Can a W+ boson couple to a W- boson? Say, if a Higgs decays into a W+ and a W-, what would be the Lagrangian density for this interaction? How would you evaluate such a first order diagram?
 
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Such interactions appear in the Lagrangian after electroweak symmetry breaking and are generally proportional to the Higgs vev. The origin is the covariant derivative terms of the Higgs field. They would be treated in perturbation theory just as any other interaction term.

Note that the Higgs (125 GeV) is too light to decay into two on-shell Ws (80 GeV) and thus at least one of the Ws has to be off-shell.
 
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In addition to the Higgs decay/production, you can also have those in ZWW, ZZWW, WWWW couplings.
 
and the Lagrangian density of this interaction (W- W+ and others) can comes from the:
\mathcal{L} = - \frac{1}{4} F_{\mu \nu}^b F^{\mu \nu}_b
which for non-abelian gauge group theories will give you interactions of fields with themselves (not only the kinetic terms).
The interactions of bosons with the Higgs scalar come from the Higg's potential term which contains: D_{\mu} \phi D^{\mu} \phi^*, where the gauge boson fields exist in the covariant derivatives D_{\mu} (as connections)
 

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