Abstract
A number of philosophical accounts have been offered as to what sort of unification exists between the electromagnetic and weak interactions in the Glashow-Weinberg-Salam electroweak theory of elementary particle physics. In this paper, unlike the previous studies, I seek to address how “unity” in science might be interpreted in view of the construction process of the Higgs mechanism, which was a decisive step in the construction of the electroweak theory.
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Notes
- 1.
Throughout the paper, all indices run from 0 to 3, and the metric signature is taken as (–1, +1, +1, +1).
- 2.
These “massive” photons are called in solid-state physics “plasmons,” which are regarded as collective excitations of the free-electron gas in a metal.
- 3.
\( \mathcal{L} \) is also invariant under the global U(1) phase transformation: ϕ → ϕe iθ, where θ is an arbitrary real constant.
- 4.
In the same sense, the global U(1) phase symmetry is also spontaneously broken by the chosen ground-state.
- 5.
Under the “small” local U(1) gauge transformations, Δφ 1 → Δφ′1 = Δφ 1 + αφ 0; Δφ 2 → Δφ′2 = Δφ 2.
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Karaca, K. (2013). Practical Unification of Solid-State and Particle Physics in the Construction of the Higgs Mechanism. In: Karakostas, V., Dieks, D. (eds) EPSA11 Perspectives and Foundational Problems in Philosophy of Science. The European Philosophy of Science Association Proceedings, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01306-0_21
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