Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking and the Higgs Mechanism

TL;DR

This paper provides a pedagogical overview of the Higgs mechanism, explaining how spontaneous symmetry breaking leads to mass generation for particles in the standard model, and discusses open questions in the field.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive, educational introduction to the Higgs mechanism, linking global symmetry breaking to gauge symmetry and the electroweak sector, highlighting unresolved issues.

Findings

Clarifies the role of spontaneous symmetry breaking in mass generation.

Explains the Higgs mechanism within the electroweak theory.

Discusses open questions regarding the Higgs sector.

Abstract

The Higgs sector of the standard model of particle physics plays a central role in the generation of all the masses of elementary particles known so far. Here we give a pedagogical introduction to all the elements leading ot the Higgs mechanism and the Higgs boson, starting with the spontaneous symmetry breaking of global symmetries and the Goldstone theorem. We then consider the case of gauge symmetries, i.e. the Higgs mechanism, and its application to the electroweak sector of the standard model. We close with a reflection on the possible open questions that the very introduction of the Higgs sector in the standard model posses.