History of electroweak symmetry breaking
T.W.B. Kibble
TL;DR
This paper reviews the historical development of the electroweak theory, highlighting key theoretical challenges, solutions, and the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 from the author's perspective in Salam's group.
Contribution
It provides a personal historical account of the evolution of electroweak symmetry breaking theory, emphasizing conceptual breakthroughs and the discovery of the Higgs boson.
Findings
Historical overview of electroweak theory development
Explanation of overcoming Goldstone theorem obstacles
Account of Higgs boson discovery in 2012
Abstract
In this talk, I recall the history of the development of the unified electroweak theory, incorporating the symmetry-breaking Higgs mechanism, as I saw it from my standpoint as a member of Abdus Salam's group at Imperial College. I start by describing the state of physics in the years after the Second World War, explain how the goal of a unified gauge theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions emerged, the obstacles encountered, in particular the Goldstone theorem, and how they were overcome, followed by a brief account of more recent history, culminating in the historic discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012.
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