The Elusive Higgs Mechanism

Philosophy of Science 73 (5):487-499 (2006)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The Higgs mechanism is an essential but elusive component of the Standard Model of particle physics. Without it Yang‐Mills gauge theories would have been little more than a warm‐up exercise in the attempt to quantize gravity rather than serving as the basis for the Standard Model. This article focuses on two problems related to the Higgs mechanism clearly posed in Earman’s recent papers (Earman 2003, 2004a, 2004b): what is the gauge‐invariant content of the Higgs mechanism, and what does it mean to break a local gauge symmetry?

Categories

Keywords

Reprint years

DOI

10.1086/518324

Links

PhilArchive

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

My notes

Similar books and articles

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in the Higgs mechanism.Suzanne van Dam - unknown
Gauge invariant accounts of the Higgs mechanism.Ward Struyve - 2011 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 42 (4):226-236.
A Philosophical Look at the Higgs Mechanism.Simon Friederich - 2014 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 45 (2):335-350.
Does the Higgs mechanism exist?Holger Lyre - 2008 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 22 (2):119-133.
Guest Editor’s Introduction: An Overview of the Epistemological Perspectives on the Higgs Mechanism.Koray Karaca - 2014 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 45 (2):329-333.
Constraining the Higgs Mechanism: Ontological Worries and the Prospects for an Algebraic Cure.Michael Stöltzner - 2012 - Philosophy of Science 79 (5):930-941.
Eating Goldstone Bosons in a Phase Transition: A Critical Review of Lyre’s Analysis of the Higgs Mechanism. [REVIEW]Adrian Wüthrich - 2012 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 43 (2):281-287.
Gauge symmetry breaking in gauge theories—in search of clarification.Simon Friederich - 2013 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 3 (2):157-182.
Philosophical perspectives on ad hoc hypotheses and the Higgs mechanism.Simon Friederich, Robert V. Harlander & Koray Karaca - 2014 - Synthese 191 (16):3897-3917.
Gauge Symmetries, Symmetry Breaking, and Gauge-Invariant Approaches.Philipp Berghofer, Jordan François, Simon Friederich, Henrique Gomes, Guy Hetzroni, Axel Maas & René Sondenheimer - 2023 - Cambridge University Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
560 (#34,458)

6 months
164 (#24,250)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Chris Smeenk
University of Western Ontario

Citations of this work

A philosopher looks at string dualities.Dean Rickles - 2011 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 42 (1):54-67.
Does the Higgs mechanism exist?Holger Lyre - 2008 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 22 (2):119-133.

View all 21 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

Symmetries in Physics: Philosophical Reflections.Katherine Brading & Elena Castellani (eds.) - 2002 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking.Katherine Brading & Elena Castellani - forthcoming - The Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Curie’s Principle and spontaneous symmetry breaking.John Earman - 2004 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 18 (2 & 3):173 – 198.

View all 13 references / Add more references