it's not what gives YOU the mass

[maruszek]

Hi
During the press conference Rolf-Dieter Heuer said that Higgs boson is "not what gives YOU the mass" (saying that to a journalist) and that Higgs field gives mass only to fundamental particles.
If so, what gives us our mass? I'd be grateful for an explanation...

[chriwi]

I dont know who said this, but who claims that he or she is not made up of "fundamental particles" and also got his mass from their mass, should better present a new "theory of everything", according to the "standard modle" which is now more affirmed then ever also you and me should be made of such particles and thereby could explain our mass by the Higgs-boson if you can.

[maruszek]

Well, it was director general of CERN - I think he knew what he was talking about
You can watch it at 8:55 in press conference video:
https://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1459604

[DCWhitworth]

Well, it was director general of CERN - I think he knew what he was talking about
You can watch it at 8:55 in press conference video:
https://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1459604

This would be the man who started his summing up of the ICHEP presentation with the words "As a layman . . ."

[maruszek]

This would be the man who started his summing up of the ICHEP presentation with the words "As a layman . . ."

Scientists from ATLAS and CMS who were sitting next to him didn't object to his words, so either they agreed or it was some kind of a joke that I didn't get.

[DCWhitworth]

This would be the man who started his summing up of the ICHEP presentation with the words "As a layman . . ."

Scientists from ATLAS and CMS who were sitting next to him didn't object to his words, so either they agreed or it was some kind of a joke that I didn't get.

Correcting your boss in public is not a good career move

[drsnooker]

Isn't the mass of the proton, the mass of the quarks (via higgs) plus the binding energy of the quarks. I do remember reading that the binding energy as very large, and contributes to the majority of the mass of the proton and neutrons.

[chriwi]

Interesting qustion, is only the mass of the fundmental particles related to the higgs mechanism or also the mass they aquier by their bindingenergy?

[chelle]

Interesting qustion, is only the mass of the fundmental particles related to the higgs mechanism or also the mass they aquier by their bindingenergy?

I saw somewhere on a blog the posting of a recent paper by Frank Wilczek tittled "Origins of Mass" maybe it answers some of your questions. Here's the link (+ abstract):

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1206.7114v1.pdf (1Mb)

Abstract
Newtonian mechanics posited mass as a primary quality of matter, incapable of further elucida- tion. We now see Newtonian mass as an emergent property. That mass-concept is tremendously useful in the approximate description of baryon-dominated matter at low energy – that is, the standard “matter” of everyday life, and of most of science and engineering – but it originates in a highly contingent and non-trivial way from more basic concepts. Most of the mass of standard matter, by far, arises dynamically, from back-reaction of the color gluon fields of quantum chromo- dynamics (QCD). Additional quantitatively small, though physically crucial, contributions come from the intrinsic masses of elementary quanta (electrons and quarks). The equations for massless particles support extra symmetries – specifically scale, chiral, and gauge symmetries. The consis- tency of the standard model relies on a high degree of underlying gauge and chiral symmetry, so the observed non-zero masses of many elementary particles (W and Z bosons, quarks, and lep- tons) requires spontaneous symmetry breaking. Superconductivity is a prototype for spontaneous symmetry breaking and for mass-generation, since photons acquire mass inside superconductors. A conceptually similar but more intricate form of all-pervasive (i.e. cosmic) superconductivity, in the context of the electroweak standard model, gives us a successful, economical account of W and Z boson masses. It also allows a phenomenologically successful, though profligate, accommodation of quark and lepton masses. The new cosmic superconductivity, when implemented in a straight- forward, minimal way, suggests the existence of a remarkable new particle, the so-called Higgs particle. The mass of the Higgs particle itself is not explained in the theory, but appears as a free parameter. Earlier results suggested, and recent observations at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) may indicate, the actual existence of the Higgs particle, with mass mH ≈ 125 GeV. In addition to consolidating our understanding of the origin of mass, a Higgs particle with mH ≈ 125 GeV could provide an important clue to the future, as it is consistent with expectations from supersymmetry.

[fjgiie]

Hi everyone,

Catching the talk about human bodies not getting their mass from the Higgs boson made me think. I have asked questions to physicists but have not received any replies yet.

My question was "Was the Higgs Boson only around in nature during the early stages of the big bang?"

So, if during the Big Bang the Higgs boson was present, all particles received their mass but there were no human animals around to get any mass. Only the basic particles got any mass.

Perhaps there are no Higgs Bosons around now, and no Higgs field? That is what I wonder.

thanks,

fjgiie

ps: [edit] edited to add: I saw where the Higgs boson get it's mass from interaction with itself.

f [/edit]