Higgs mechanism generates mass in particles from "summary" of The Quantum Theory of Fields by Steven Weinberg,Weinberg S
The Higgs mechanism is a central feature of the theory of electroweak interactions. According to this theory, the particles that transmit the weak force - the W+, W-, and Z bosons - are not massless, as are the photons that transmit electromagnetism, but have mass. The Higgs mechanism explains how these particles acquire mass. The key idea behind the Higgs mechanism is the existence of a new kind of field, the Higgs field, that fills all of space. Like other fields, such as the electromagnetic field, the Higgs field can have waves propagating through it. But unlike the electromagnetic field, which is zero in its lowest energy state, the Higgs field has a non-zero value even when there are no particles present. Because the Higgs field has a non-zero value, particles that interact with it acquire mass. The way this happens is a little subtle. The particles that transmit the weak force - the W+, W-, and Z bosons - start out as massless. But as these particles interact with the Higgs field, they acquire an effective mass. The Higgs field interacts with the weak force particles through a special kind of interaction. This interaction is such that the W+, W-, and Z bosons acquire mass, while the photon, which does not interact with the Higgs field in the same way, remains massless. In this way, the Higgs mechanism generates mass for the weak force particles, while leaving the photon massless. The Higgs mechanism is an essential part of the Standard Model of particle physics, which has been extremely successful in describing the behavior of elementary particles. It is also a key feature of the theory of electroweak interactions, which unifies the electromagnetic and weak forces into a single, unified theory. Without the Higgs mechanism, it would be difficult to understand why the weak force particles have mass while the photon does not.
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