The discussion revolves around the classification of the Higgs field and whether it should be considered a fundamental force, particularly in light of the confirmed existence of the Higgs boson. Participants explore the implications of this classification and its relation to other fundamental forces.
Participants do not reach a consensus on whether the Higgs field should be classified as a fifth fundamental force. Multiple competing views are presented regarding its nature and implications.
The discussion highlights limitations in definitions and the subjective nature of categorizing forces in physics. There are unresolved questions regarding the implications of classifying the Higgs field as a force and its relationship to other fundamental interactions.
The Higgs mass of 126 GeV is not huge compared to the masses of the W and Z (80 and 90 GeV) which mediate the weak force. As a "fifth force" the Higgs boson could mediate for example between fermion-antifermion pairs or gauge boson pairs, but these particles are extremely short-lived -- with the exception of electrons and muons, and for those cases the coupling constant is extremely small.tom.stoer said:In some general sense - yes. The effect of this force (in addition to the creation of particle masses) is tiny due to the huge Higgs mass.
kurros said:It is quite different from the "other forces" on account of being spin zero instead of one. But yeah, no-one talks about forces like this in particle physics unless they are giving a seminar for a general audience. Especially when you throw in things like supersymmetry, which cause the categorisation to become even more meaningless.
dauto said:gravity is also different being a spin 2 instead of one. The original post has a point. The Higgs interaction could be considered a 5th force. What makes the Higgs interaction different is the fact that - unlike the other forces - it is not related to a gauge local symmetry and doesn't have any conserved charges associated with it.