 |
Origin
of Mass
� ��
Anyone would be considered
crazy to even ask a question as silly as this: Why is the electron's mass
approximately 9.11 x 10-31 kg? Why not 1.23 x 10-20 kg?
What is the origin of mass? etc. However, these crazy questions are hoped to be
provided with an answer by the Standard Model of particle physics (a theory of
subatomic particles and their interactions) which needs a new theoretical field
associated with a hypothetical particle, called Higgs boson. It was an initial
attempt to provide an answer as to why the mediator of the electromagnetic field
(photon) is massless and the mediators of the weak interaction (W and Z
particles) are so heavy, about 90 times heavier than a proton, in such a way
that our daily lives only experience the effects of electromagnetic force and
not the weak force.�� ��
Let us imagine that a light electron is moving at a very high speed across the
street. Since it is negatively charged, it will definitely attract positively
charged protons nearby and in the end, our electron will not be moving alone but
as a cluster with protons on the outer layer, and the electron in the center. Of
course, if it moves as a cluster of a few protons and electron together, the
speed will decrease since it is heavier. Crudely speaking, the
"electron" is heavier now. This is a simple analogy (incomplete)�
to the Higgs
mechanism. This theory suggests that the distortion and the clustering of the Higgs field around a
particle will generate its mass. A good guess would be that this mechanism may
explain inertia. ��
Unfortunately, this Higgs particle, nicknamed God's particle, which will
determine the success of the Higgs theory, has not been seen and no experiment
has proven its existence. Nonetheless, the theory gives an insight on the origin
of mass, such a common term in daily lives in the scientific community
or among the laymen, but without clearly understanding what it is.� �
  
Copyright
[email protected]
�
|
