How does the Higgs field give particles mass?
Quick Answer
Particles interacting with the Higgs field behave as if they have inertia, and the Higgs boson is the field’s detectable particle. The Higgs boson was discovered at CERN in 2012.
The Full Story
The Higgs mechanism explains how many elementary particles acquire mass through interaction with the Higgs field, which fills all of space. Particles that couple strongly to the field behave as if they have more inertia, while particles that do not couple, like photons, remain massless. The Higgs boson is the quantum particle associated with this field and was discovered in 2012 by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. This discovery completed the Standard Model’s particle list, although it did not explain all of mass in the universe, since most everyday mass comes from strong-force binding energy in protons and neutrons. The Higgs mechanism is one of the most important ideas in modern physics.
Key Facts
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"The field that gives the universe much of its mass."
Was this answer helpful?
Tap a reaction — it helps us pick what to cover next.