Inertial mass, the Higgs field, and Mach's Principle

[Iskandarani]

I'm trying to understand the relationship between the Higgs mechanism and the concept of inertia. The Higgs field gives fundamental particles their rest mass, but it doesn't seem to directly explain why a massive object resists acceleration (inertia).

My question is: How does the Standard Model account for inertia? Is it simply taken as a given property of mass, or is there a deeper connection to the vacuum structure? Furthermore, how does the Higgs mechanism relate to broader concepts like Mach's Principle, which suggests that inertia arises from a particle's interaction with the rest of the matter in the universe? Does a particle's Higgs-derived mass depend on the large-scale distribution of matter, or are they considered completely independent concepts?

 

[PeroK]

Inertia is just another word for mass. That said Newton's laws don't apply to elementary particle physics.

 

[PeterDonis]

How does the Standard Model account for inertia? Is it simply taken as a given property of mass

Yes.

is there a deeper connection to the vacuum structure?

Only in the sense that "the vacuum structure" has the fact that spacetime is locally Minkowskian built into it, and that embodies the connection between mass and proper acceleration.

how does the Higgs mechanism relate to broader concepts like Mach's Principle

It doesn't. Mach's Principle is embodied in General Relativity (at least to some extent--the opinions of physicists vary on this), but it has nothing to do with the particular structure of matter.

Does a particle's Higgs-derived mass depend on the large-scale distribution of matter

No.

are they considered completely independent concepts?

Yes.

 

[Iskandarani]

Thank you, @PeroK and @PeterDonis, for the very clear answers.

That perfectly clarifies the scope of the Standard Model on this topic: the Higgs mechanism accounts for rest mass, but inertia itself is an inherent property within the geometric structure of spacetime. I appreciate you taking the time to confirm this distinction.