The Crazy Mass-Giving Mechanism of the Higgs Field Simplified
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Published 2023-03-19
REFERENCES:
Where 99% of mass comes from: • QCD: Visualizing the Strongest Force ...
ElectroWeak Unification: • How 2 Fundamental Forces Unite: Elect...
Symmetry Breaking: • What is the ORIGIN of all MASS in the...
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CHAPTERS:
0:00 Sources of mass
2:33 Blinkist Free Trial
3:51 Particles are excitations in Fields
6:09 How Mass comes from interaction with Higgs
10:42 Why do some particles interact and others don't?
11:31 How our universe would not exist without Higgs
SUMMARY:
How does the Higgs give mass to particles? How do elementary particles gain mass? All mass is Energy. 99% of the mass of an atom is contained in the binding energy within the nucleus. But about 1% of your mass is contained in the mass of the subatomic particles that make up the atoms, electrons and quarks.
How do these subatomic particles get an intrinsic mass? This is due to the Higgs Field. To understand how it works, let's look at the standard model of particle physics.
Every particle is a quantized excitation in its own field. An excitation of the electromagnetic field is a photon, an excitation of the electron field is an electron, etc. All fields, in their lowest energy state, even when no excitations or particles are present, always have fluctuations. These are virtual particles that exist for such a short period of time, that they cannot be measured. They borrow energy from the vacuum and give it right back very quickly when they are annihilated.
But this energy from virtual particles, collectively adds up to no real particles. Real particles are created only when enough energy is transferred to a field from other fields to cause an excitation. An electron can only occur in energy units of 0.511 MeV, which is its mass.
#higgs
But it only has a mass because of its interaction with the Higgs field. Without this interaction, an electron would be massless. A massless electron would be like a charged photon, and move at the speed of light. Without the Higgs field, all the other fundamental particles of the standard model would also be massless, with the possible exception of neutrinos.
So the question is how does this mass come about? To understand this, we have to understand the concept of vacuum expectation value of the various fields.
Let’s imagine there were no Higgs field. If we then took any of the fields and put them inside an empty box, like the electron field, the weight of that box would be zero. In other words the field would have no mass, even though the virtual electrons would be present throughout it. Similarly, all the other fields of the Standard Model would also have no mass inside the empty box, just quantum fluctuations.
But, there is an exception to this rule, the Higgs Field. It is unique because the Higgs Field in empty space, unlike every other field, has a mass. So if were to weigh the box with the Higgs field inside, it would have a weight. This is called the vacuum energy, or vacuum expectation value. It is equal to 246 GeV. This is just the value that we would "expect" the Higgs Field to have when it is in its lowest energy state.
Anything that interacts with the Higgs field now effectively interacts with this new vacuum expectation value. And that interaction imparts energy. And since energy and mass are equivalent, the form this interaction energy takes is indistinguishable from the energy associated with a rest mass. So when a fundamental particle interacts with the Higgs field, it gains an energy or intrinsic mass.
Individual electrons are constantly interacting with the Higgs field, which effectively slows the electron down. So if you apply a force to an electron, it gets a sort of push-back from the Higgs field that causes the electron to resist acceleration. This property is what we call inertial mass.
How much mass an excitation or particle in any given field has, depends on its coupling constant. The fields of all massive particles are coupled to the Higgs field. The larger the coupling constant, the more mass its particles will have. Without the Higgs field, none of the fundamental particles would have an intrinsic mass. So electrons, quarks, and W and Z bosons are coupled to the Higgs field, while the fields of massless particles, like photons and gluons are not. Why are some particles coupled, meaning why do some particles interact with the Higgs field, while others do not? We’re not sure.
The mechanism of the Higgs Field giving out mass to other particles is called symmetry breaking.
Regarding neutrinos, the Standard Model predicts that they should be massless, but measurements indicate that they do have a very tiny mass. We don’t know the origin of that mass. It could be that they also interact with the Higgs, but no one really knows for sure.
All Comments (21)
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Thank you for being one of the few people brave enough to believe the YouTube public will understand the knowledge of the Higgs that we're so hungry for. It was super clear! Surprising it's taken this long to get a straight-forward explanation like that but thank you for being the one to do it
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First explaination I've heard that doesn't shy away from showing the complexity of these models, thank you.
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I’m not sure that it’s possible to present the topic any better than the way you did it. It turned out to be systematic, concise and intelligible. No wonder you have so many subscribers. You bring great benefit to people. Thank you!
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I proudly proclaim: I still dont get it.
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You're one of my top 5 YouTube channels and I'm SO grateful to you for helping me understand these complex concepts. 😊❤ (I still don't, but it helps!)
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I am in awe of your ability to take notoriously difficult subject matter and explain it in a way that I barely have to waste brain cycles understanding it.
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This was the most lucid and comprehensive, as well as beautiful , introduction to QFT I've ever seen. Bravo!
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This is really a public service that you're doing..i thank you for doing this awesome work of making complicated topics so easy to understand and visualize in ur videos. Awesome sir!
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Amazing explanation of the seemingly impossible. Bravo Arvin!
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I'm so glad you mentioned that our contributions to excellent science presenters like yourself help make the "I see what you mean" animations that accompany your narrations. Visual analogy of complex concepts are what makes YouTube videos so valuable as teaching tools. But going from ideas to sketches to animation is the mixture of imagination plus design dollars. Thanks for balancing the talking head with creative animation even when the quantum world seems so far from our views of reality. Good stuff.
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Let me add a second comment of different nature. I've never seen such concerted effort, by part of anyone, in explaining the nature of the mass-giving property of the Higgs field, without calling into action the various laws and formula associated with the Higgs, not even once. Therefore, on a personal and professional level, have my best compliments for this great work of yours! Greetings, Anthony
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Dude, there's a lot of great science channels out there. And they impart a lot of scientific understanding. Most of them allow me to repeat words and concepts I barely understand. Your channel doesn't just impart the information, it helps me understand them as well. You deserve soooo many accolades. Thank you for spending your time sharing everything you've learned. It is most appreciated.
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Your baby steps in developing understanding in your audience is excellent. In fact the 'baby steps' analogy helps everyone get on board. I love your 'baby step' insight, many people give up learning because they do not realise others have lucked out with earlier 'baby steps'. Earlier learning can be an accident and some look like geniuses.
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Fabulous and fascinating explanation with great visuals and analogies! Thank you so much for this. I've been an arm chair quantum physicist for decades, but every time I take a moment to study it, I learn something new/additional.
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Damn dude, that was incredible. I've been (secretly) studying/reading/desperately trying to understand quantum particle physics for years now, and your 10 minute explanation has given me more knowledge and understanding than almost everything I've studied previously. It has meant that I understand what it means to be a field and how this relates to the energy's that are defined in the standard model. The graphics were stunning and simple. New subscriber gained, and I'm now going to blitz through your vids!!
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Physics becomes little bit understandable for the people like me due to scientist like you. What a amazing topic to go through !
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Such a concise and well done explanation!
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I love, love, LOVE this sort of info! I'm not expecting a graduate course on the subject's mathematics, but I do enjoy seeing a little math and explanations. The visuals always help. And, as always, I ALWAYS learn some great new information from your vids! Thank you so much, Arvin.
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This is one of the best explained videos I’ve ever seen, I never knew this subject could be explained so simply, great job, we need more of this
