3
votes
1answer
166 views

What breaks the symmetry between the electromagnetic and weak nuclear force?

I know the electromagnetic force is mediated by a photon and the weak nuclear force is mediated by two massive bosons. Are there any other insights into why the masses are so different?
3
votes
2answers
125 views

Do any good theories exist on why the weak interaction is so profoundly chiral?

I find the profound asymmetry in the sensitivity of left and right chiral particles to be one of the most remarkable analytical observations captured in the Standard Model. Yet for some, I've not ...
0
votes
0answers
101 views

Weak isospin and types of weak charge

My understanding is that QCD has three color charges that are conserved as a result of global SU(3) invariance. What about SU(2) weak? Does it have two types of charges? What I'm getting at is: U(1) ...
0
votes
0answers
17 views

Hamiltonian of the charged current in SM (related to the lorentz invariance)

recently when I was studying the scatterings which involves a vector boson (like W boson) as an intermediate particle, I saw that the propagator is not Lorentz invariant, I read that there is another ...
4
votes
0answers
105 views

What is the rate of B violation expected in the standard model during high energy collisions?

In a recent question Can colliders detect B violation? I asked about detecting B violation in collisions. Here I am interested in the theory aspect. (I asked both questions originally in the same ...
16
votes
1answer
230 views

Why is there no theta-angle (topological term) for the weak interactions?

Why is there no analog for $\Theta_\text{QCD}$ for the weak interaction? Is this topological term generated? If not, why not? Is this related to the fact that $SU(2)_L$ is broken?
2
votes
1answer
201 views

If LHC searches of a Higgs boson won't be a success, what consequences for the theory of electroweak interaction it can bear?

Whether it is necessary to search still for variants of an explanation of spontaneously breaking gauge symmetry, giving masses for a W, Z-bosons? Goldstone bosons are bosons that appear necessarily ...
2
votes
2answers
266 views

Might the LHC see nothing new at all?

There's no guarantee that supersymmetry (or more exotic new physics) will be seen at the LHC. Meanwhile, it's standard lore that a Higgsless standard model becomes nonunitary somewhere in the vicinity ...