Artificial vs Substantial Gauge Symmetries: a Criterion and an Application to the Electroweak Model

TL;DR

This paper introduces a criterion based on the dressing field method to distinguish artificial from substantial gauge symmetries, applying it to clarify the nature of symmetry breaking in the electroweak model.

Contribution

It proposes a new operational criterion using the dressing field method to identify the nature of gauge symmetries, challenging the necessity of spontaneous symmetry breaking in electroweak theory.

Findings

The dressing field method effectively differentiates artificial and substantial gauge symmetries.

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is shown to be unnecessary for the empirical success of the electroweak model.

The criterion clarifies the conceptual foundations of gauge theories.

Abstract

To systematically answer the generalized Kretschmann objection, we propose a mean to make operational a criterion widely recognized as allowing to decide if the gauge symmetry of a theory is artificial or substantial. Our proposition is based on the dressing field method of gauge symmetry reduction, a new simple tool from mathematical physics. This general scheme allows in particular to straightforwardly argue that the notion of spontaneous symmetry breaking is superfluous to the empirical success of the electroweak theory. Important questions regarding the context of justification of the theory then arise.