The Higgs mechanics is very powerful, it furnishes a description of the electroweak theory in the standard Model which has a convincing experimental verification. But although the Higgs mechanism had been applied successfully, the conceptual background is not clear. The Higgs mechanism is often presented as spontaneous breaking of local gauge symmetry. But local gauge symmetry is rooted in redundancy of description, gauge transformation connect states that cannot be physically distinguished. Gauge symmetry is therefore not symmetry of nature, but of our description of nature. The spontaneous breaking of such symmetry cannot be expected to have physical effects since asymmetries are not reflected in the physics. If spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking cannot have physical effects, this causes conceptual problems for the Higgs mechanism, if taken to be described as spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking. In a gauge invariant theory, gauge fixing is necessary to retrieve the physics from the theory. This means that also in a theory with spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking, a gauge should be fixed. But gauge fixing itself breaks the gauge symmetry, and thereby obscures the spontaneous breaking of the symmetry. It suggests that spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking is not part of the physics, but an unphysical artefact of the redundancy in description.
| Published in | American Journal of Modern Energy (Volume 3, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11 |
| Page(s) | 17-22 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group |
CERN, LHC, Higgs, Symmetry, Asymmetry
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APA Style
Suleman Kamaldeen Olasunkanmi, Bello Ismaila Taiwo, Tijani Lateef Olabode, Ogunbode Amos Olusoji. (2017). The Journey Through Time Towards the Discovery of the Higgs Boson - A Review. American Journal of Modern Energy, 3(2), 17-22. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11
ACS Style
Suleman Kamaldeen Olasunkanmi; Bello Ismaila Taiwo; Tijani Lateef Olabode; Ogunbode Amos Olusoji. The Journey Through Time Towards the Discovery of the Higgs Boson - A Review. Am. J. Mod. Energy 2017, 3(2), 17-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11
AMA Style
Suleman Kamaldeen Olasunkanmi, Bello Ismaila Taiwo, Tijani Lateef Olabode, Ogunbode Amos Olusoji. The Journey Through Time Towards the Discovery of the Higgs Boson - A Review. Am J Mod Energy. 2017;3(2):17-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11
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author = {Suleman Kamaldeen Olasunkanmi and Bello Ismaila Taiwo and Tijani Lateef Olabode and Ogunbode Amos Olusoji},
title = {The Journey Through Time Towards the Discovery of the Higgs Boson - A Review},
journal = {American Journal of Modern Energy},
volume = {3},
number = {2},
pages = {17-22},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajme.20170302.11},
abstract = {The Higgs mechanics is very powerful, it furnishes a description of the electroweak theory in the standard Model which has a convincing experimental verification. But although the Higgs mechanism had been applied successfully, the conceptual background is not clear. The Higgs mechanism is often presented as spontaneous breaking of local gauge symmetry. But local gauge symmetry is rooted in redundancy of description, gauge transformation connect states that cannot be physically distinguished. Gauge symmetry is therefore not symmetry of nature, but of our description of nature. The spontaneous breaking of such symmetry cannot be expected to have physical effects since asymmetries are not reflected in the physics. If spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking cannot have physical effects, this causes conceptual problems for the Higgs mechanism, if taken to be described as spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking. In a gauge invariant theory, gauge fixing is necessary to retrieve the physics from the theory. This means that also in a theory with spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking, a gauge should be fixed. But gauge fixing itself breaks the gauge symmetry, and thereby obscures the spontaneous breaking of the symmetry. It suggests that spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking is not part of the physics, but an unphysical artefact of the redundancy in description.},
year = {2017}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Journey Through Time Towards the Discovery of the Higgs Boson - A Review AU - Suleman Kamaldeen Olasunkanmi AU - Bello Ismaila Taiwo AU - Tijani Lateef Olabode AU - Ogunbode Amos Olusoji Y1 - 2017/06/16 PY - 2017 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11 T2 - American Journal of Modern Energy JF - American Journal of Modern Energy JO - American Journal of Modern Energy SP - 17 EP - 22 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-3797 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajme.20170302.11 AB - The Higgs mechanics is very powerful, it furnishes a description of the electroweak theory in the standard Model which has a convincing experimental verification. But although the Higgs mechanism had been applied successfully, the conceptual background is not clear. The Higgs mechanism is often presented as spontaneous breaking of local gauge symmetry. But local gauge symmetry is rooted in redundancy of description, gauge transformation connect states that cannot be physically distinguished. Gauge symmetry is therefore not symmetry of nature, but of our description of nature. The spontaneous breaking of such symmetry cannot be expected to have physical effects since asymmetries are not reflected in the physics. If spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking cannot have physical effects, this causes conceptual problems for the Higgs mechanism, if taken to be described as spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking. In a gauge invariant theory, gauge fixing is necessary to retrieve the physics from the theory. This means that also in a theory with spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking, a gauge should be fixed. But gauge fixing itself breaks the gauge symmetry, and thereby obscures the spontaneous breaking of the symmetry. It suggests that spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking is not part of the physics, but an unphysical artefact of the redundancy in description. VL - 3 IS - 2 ER -
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