How can you visualize the Higgs field, or can you?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the visualization of the Higgs field and its relationship to concepts in relativity and quantum field theory. Participants explore how the Higgs field is distributed, its properties, and how it compares to other fields in the standard model, such as electron, quark, and photon fields.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions how the Higgs field underpins relativity and whether it has curvature like spacetime or is omnipresent.
  • Another participant suggests an analogy of the Higgs field as a bowl of honey, where particles interact differently based on their mass.
  • It is noted that according to Quantum Field Theory, all particles have an associated field, with the Higgs field contributing to the vacuum energy of the universe even in the absence of particles.
  • Some participants express uncertainty about how to visualize various fields, including the Higgs field, and whether it is uniform or has fluctuations similar to gravitational waves.
  • A participant points out that comparing classical fields, like magnetic fields, to quantum fields is not appropriate, emphasizing the distinction between Higgs-vacuum energy and the Higgs field itself.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express multiple competing views regarding the nature and visualization of the Higgs field, with no consensus reached on its properties or how it should be conceptualized.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the discussion regarding the assumptions made about the nature of fields, the definitions of terms like "Higgs-vacuum energy," and the unresolved aspects of how to visualize these quantum fields.

scientepid
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Just when I thought I had finally wrapped my brain around relativity, Quantum theory took off. Then the Higgs Boson was discovered. How does the Higgs field under-pin relativity, namely space-time?

How is the Higgs field distributed? Does it have curvature like space time, or is omnipresent?

Sorry for the simple questions, but I am still stuck on thinking about a bowling ball on a trampoline.
The best analogy I have found is that the Higgs field is like a bowl of honey, and particles pass through it. Some particles are more affected by the honey, and others are less affected, giving rise to the mass of the particles. This still leaves a lot of questions.
 
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How do you visualize an electronfield, or quarkfield, or photonfield, or whatever other field one has in the standard model?
 
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According to Quantum Field Theory (QFT), ALL particles have an associated field (as the haushofer pointed out)

What is so special about the Higgs Field is that it contributes to the energy density of the universe in the absence of particles. This is what is called the "vacuum energy". Even though the universe is empty on particles, it has energy from the Higgs field
 
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haushofer said:
How do you visualize an electronfield, or quarkfield, or photonfield, or whatever other field one has in the standard model?
Well, I know how to visualize a magnetic field, and I thought I knew how to visualize space time as a field, or mesh, or scalar shape, but when it comes to the higgs, is the field uniform and omnipresent, or does it have curvature and fluctuations; i.e. gravity waves?
 
but a magnetic field is not something you have in the standard model of particle physics. One can not compare classical fields with quantum fields.

what you are asking about is the Higgs-vacuum energy, not the Higgs field itself.
 

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