If the higgs boson does exist does this mean that the law of conservation of mass is no longer true?

Question

higgs boson is the theoretical partical that gives other elementary particles their mass. soon we will conduct an experiment with the Large Hadron Collider, if the Higgs boson is found to exist does this mean that the law of consevration of mass (no mass can be created or destroyed) no longer applies, as the higgs boson gives particles mass (now the higgs field as the higgs boson was broken down shortly after the big bang). please could someone answer this question for me or find out the answer and explain also, thankyou!

Answer 1

The conservation of mass was a concept developed by the early chemists such as Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier. The law of mass conservation has not existed, as such, since the discovery of radioactive decay. When a nucleus radioactively decays, it does so via the weak nuclear force, with the emission of its excess energy instability as a W+ or W- boson, or gamma photon. These W+/- bosons then decay into energetic alpha or beta particles and an anti-neutrino, in the later case. However, in the decay process - the total mass-energy is conserved.

Einstein first proposed that mass and energy are equivalent in his 1905 paper, ' Zur Electrodynamik bewegter Körper' (On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies) now known as the Special Theory Of Relativity. In considering the 'dynamics of the slowly accelerated electron (section 10)' as it approaches light speed, Einstein first derived his now famous mass-energy equivalence equation: -

E = mc²

Thus, in terms of modern physics we refer to the conservation of mass-energy rather than the conservation of mass. Hence, when two protons collide, head on, at CERN's L(arge) H(adron) C(ollider) they will annihilate each other in a flash of pure energy, which is then conserved as it 'condenses' into other particles via interactions with the Higg's field.

The Higg's field interaction may be described as follows. The weak interaction is mediated by spin-1 bosons which act as force carriers between quarks and/or leptons. There are three of these intermediate vector bosons, which were all discovered at CERN in 1983. They are the charged bosons W+ and W- and the neutral Z0. Their masses are measured to be: -

M(W) = 80.3 Gev/c² and M(Z) = 91.2 Gev/c²

which gives their ranges as: -

R(W) ≈ R(Z) ≈ 2 x 10^-3 fm

Their decay modes are as follows: -

W+ -> l+ + vl

W- -> l- + vl'

Z0 -> l+ + l-

Where the l's stand for leptons and the v's for neutrinos with the prime ' indicating an anti-neutrino. This introduction sets the scene for what follows!

The intermediate vector bosons gain their mass from the Higgs boson. Please allow me to explain. During the nineteen-sixties the theoretical physicists Glashow, Salam and Weinberg developed a theory which unified the electromagnetic and the weak nuclear forces. This theory is known as the ‘electroweak’ theory, it predicted the neutral vector boson Z0, and weak nuclear force reactions arising from its exchange, in what are known as neutral current reactions. The theory also accounted for the heavy charged bosons W+ and W-, required for the mediation of all observed weak interactions, known as charged current reactions. These particles were discovered in 1983.This unified theory is a ‘gauge invariance’ theory, which means that if the components of its underlying equations are transformed, in position or potential, they still predict exactly the same physics. Because the force carrying particles (Z0, W+ and W-), of this theory, are massive spin-1 bosons a spin-0 boson is required to complete the theory. This spin-0 boson is the as yet unobserved ‘Higgs’ boson.

The masses of the force carrying bosons (Z0, W+ and W-), for the electroweak theory, are derived from their interaction with the scalar Higgs field. Unlike other physical fields, the Higgs field has a non-zero value in the vacuum state, labelled φ0, and furthermore this value is not invariant under gauge transformation. Hence, this gauge invariance is referred to as a ‘hidden’ or ‘spontaneously broken’ symmetry. The Higgs field has three main consequences’. The first, is that the electroweak force carrying bosons (Z0, W+ and W-) can acquire mass in the ratio: -

M(W) =cosθ(W)

_____

M(Z)

Where θ(W) Is the electroweak mixing angle. These masses arise from the interactions of the gauge fields with the non-zero vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field. Secondly, there are electrically neutral quanta H0, called Higgs bosons, associated with the Higgs field, just as photons are associated with the electromagnetic field. Thirdly, the Higgs field throws light on the origin of the quark and lepton masses. In the absence of the Higgs field the requirements of gauge invariance on the masses of spin-½ fermions (quarks and leptons etc,) would set them at zero for parity violating interactions (non-mirror image interactions). Parity is a conserved quantity in strong nuclear force and electromagnetic interactions but is violated in weak nuclear force interactions, which would make quark and lepton masses zero in this later case. However, interactions with the Higgs field can generate fermion masses due to the non-zero expectation value φ0 of this field, as well as with interactions with the Higgs bosons. These interactions have a dimensionless coupling constant g(Hff) related to the fermions mass m(f) by the expression: -

g(Hff) = √ (√2G(f)m(f) ²)

Where G(f) is the Fermi coupling constant and f is any quark or lepton flavour. However, this theory, that the fermion masses are mediated by their interaction with the Higgs field, does not predict their mass m(f). However, with the future discovery of the Higgs boson the above equation can be used to confirm the observed coupling constant g(Hff).

At CERN, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will search for the Higgs boson at an energy of up to 1 TeV by colliding protons in the reaction: -

p + p -> H0 + X

Thus, the discovery of the Higg's boson (some theories suggest that there are three such bosons) will complete the standard gauge model of elementary particles and their interactions but it will still be consistent with the concept of the conservation of mass-energy.

Answer 2

The existence of the Higgs boson has no consequence for the law of conservation of mass (which was modified after Einstein introduced relativity to the law of conservation of mass-energy, or relativistic mass). This law still holds.

The Higgs boson is simply a particle which is thought to be found everywhere (even in a vacuum) - we say that it has a nonzero vacuum expectation value. It has a mass itself, and all other particles' masses are determined relative to the Higgs mass by how strongly the Higgs field couples to the particle.

The Higgs field theory explains only why particles have mass, and not just energy. Energy is more fundamental than mass. If a mechanism to give particles mass did not exist, all particles would be similar to photons - they have no rest mass, but they have a relativistic mass by virtue of their energy. But the conservation of energy would still apply (there just wouldn't be any mass).