Standard model, mass prediction

[jamie.j1989]

Hi, I've read on the cern website that the standard model does not predict that matter inherently has mass, if this is the case how does the model predict particle masses and also why doesn't it predict that matter inherently has mass? Thanks.

 

[mathman]

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_field

The above is a start.

 

[ChrisVer]

I guess the reason why is because the Standard Model has the particle masses as free parameters... It won't change much by choosing any value for them...
That is why it's unable to predict the particle masses and you have to experimentally determine them and plug them in the theory.

 

[Orodruin]

It is usual to provide a reference more precise than "somewhereon the CERN homepage" when you are asking for a clarification. As it is now we have to guess exactly what was said.

Inherently, all particles in the SM are massless until the theory is spontaneously broken by the Higgs mechanism, which by itself produces masses to the weak gauge bosons based on the vacuum expectation value taken by the Higgs field. Other elementary particle masses can be provided by Yukawa couplings, which have values that are model parameters and thus are not predicted.

Without more information, it is impossible to tell exactly which part of the above that the homepage was referring to.