Fermions & Bosons: Can They Be Converted to Energy?

[mfb]

Random (and probably stupid) question...
Is energy particulate too?

I don't think that question makes sense.

Hypothetical situation: If there's no higgs field, would the higgs boson serve any purpose?

Particles do not have "purpose" in physics.
Without higgs field there would be no higgs boson and vice versa. Fields and their corresponding particles usually come together. This is not restricted to bosons, it is also true for all fermions.

 

[ChrisVer]

Is that how it works? As far as I know, gauge bosons are the quantum of their respective fields...while Higgs Boson interacts with the Higgs field to "impart" mass to particles...gauge bosons don't "interact" per se; although they form their respective fields.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Also since I've failed to understand what you're trying to convey...please elucidate.

The particles (fermions and massive bosons) interact with the Higgs field and so they get mass, because the Higgs field gets a vev v. Who said that gauge bosons don't interact with themselves?
For example there is a coupling between W^+ W^- \gamma \gamma (2 W bosons and 2 photons)
If you have a field, if it's meant to be physical, it must represent some boson.
You can however introduce fields which actually don't give you any physical particle.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Particles do not have "purpose" in physics.
Without higgs field there would be no higgs boson and vice versa. Fields and their corresponding particles usually come together. This is not restricted to bosons, it is also true for all fermions.

See, Higgs Boson interacts with Higgs Field to impart mass to particles.
It's like Higgs Field is the signal tower, while the Higgs Boson is a SIM card.
Do gauge bosons work that way too?

 

[ChrisVer]

See, Higgs Boson interacts with Higgs Field to impart mass to particles.

That is totally wrong.
The correct phrase is that particles interact with the Higgs field, and because the last can get a vev the particles acquire mass..
The other gauge bosons are vector bosons, and you can't give them a vev without breaking the Lorentz Invariance. If they did, for example the terms which couple the gauge bosons to 2 fermions would cause mass terms proportional to the gauge bosons' vev. But in that case your vacuum would have lorentz indices- a preferred direction...

 

[mfb]

It's like Higgs Field is the signal tower, while the Higgs Boson is a SIM card.

I don't understand that analogy.

See ChrisVer for the first part.