The Crazy Mass-Giving Mechanism of the Higgs Field Simplified

REFERENCES:

PATREON:

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.

[Valeryp]

First explaination I've heard that doesn't shy away from showing the complexity of these models, thank you.

[nevis]

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

[andreyshnt]

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!

[Cheesestroker]

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!

[aclearlight]

This was the most lucid and comprehensive, as well as beautiful, introduction to QFT I've ever seen. Bravo!

[suecondon]

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!)

[dieago]

Amazing explanation of the seemingly impossible. Bravo Arvin!

[nycpaull]

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.

[Cerealbox]

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.

[thierryfaquet]

I'm not heavy, I just excite the Higgs field a lot.

[ryanbaker]

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.

[stephenbrickwood]

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.

[Minikahn]

Such a concise and well done explanation!

[protonjinx]

I proudly proclaim: I still dont get it.

[rayoflight]

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

[Chipchap-xupk]

Arvin, I'm probably about your age. I've been reading popular physics and watching videos since A Brief History of Time. I'm usually left wirh a feeling of awe at the concepts in any of these sources, but your videos are the only ones where I feel like I've actually learned something profound. Your QFT video was amazing, but this really adds to it. After a lifetime of 'knowing' mass-energy equivalence, after watching this I really felt it. It feels like there isn't really any such thing as mass, it's just how we explain the mechanical effects of energy. You have a gift for this, thank you!

[Beerbatter]

All your content always helps me understand cosmology better, even though I've seen countless other videos on the same subject. Awesome graphics is helping a lot here, I'm so visually oriented. I had a bit of an "Ahh haa" moment when you related the positive vacuum energy of the Higgs field analogous to the field itself having an intrinsic mass. That makes so much more sense now. Awesome video.

[RF-vvmw]

This video is the most comprehensive explanation of how all the fields interact and how it results in mass. Thank you so much and please make more.

[SynSauce]

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.

[HagaQue]

Man I really have no words to say how gratefull I am, u explained something so complex in a way that evryone can understand, pls, continue with ur content because u are unique, I never saw a youtube channel that explain complex concepts in a so good way like you