Tagged Questions
2
votes
1answer
74 views
Complex masses for Dirac and Weyl spinors
I'm trying understand how to rotate Dirac fields to absorb complex phases in masses. I have a few related questions:
With Weyl spinors, I understand, $$ \mathcal{L} = \text{kinetic} +
...
-3
votes
3answers
217 views
Does a photon have mass? [duplicate]
I have seen questions assume photons have no mass. But I have not seen any questions that directly ask whether or not photons have mass.
If photons have no mass, then how do they occupy space? How ...
0
votes
0answers
47 views
What causes the mass of Higgs boson itself? [duplicate]
Current theories stipulate that particles mass is due to :
Quantum chromodynamics (mutual attraction of quarks, i.e. gluon's kinetic energy, circa 98%) and Higgs field (quarks rest mass, circa 2%) ...
2
votes
4answers
176 views
The building blocks of energy
I have a couple of related questions that have been bothering me for a while. They might sound unscientific, but here is goes:
What are the building blocks of energy? What does energy consist of? Is ...
2
votes
0answers
114 views
Do all the particles acquire mass in the Standard Model due to the Higgs mechanism only?
I know that a mass term for an intermediate boson is not compatible with the gauge symmetry. But in principle a mass term for the electron field does not violate a gauge symmetry. However to build an ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
Have I discovered how to calculate the proton's mass using only integers?
Could it be possible that the mass of the proton can be calculated by a series of integer sequences? Or is this just a curiosity?
$$\sum_{m=1}^{\infty } \frac{1}{10^{26}(m^2+1)_{2m}}=$$
...
0
votes
0answers
122 views
Neutrino mass with Dirac and Majorana
Why both Dirac mass and Majorana mass terms are needed to explain the mass of a neutrino?
-1
votes
1answer
89 views
Why is the lightness of particles remarkable?
Why is the lightness of particles unexpected?
http://motls.blogspot.com/2012/09/experimenters-susy-frustrations-and.html
1
vote
1answer
184 views
What gives matter Gravitational Mass? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Does the equivalence between inertial and gravitational mass imply anything about the Higgs mechanism?
In Higgs mechanism, Higgs field, which likes syrup, slows down ...
6
votes
3answers
418 views
How are the masses of unstable elementary particles measured?
I am interested in knowing how (Q1) the particle's masses are experimentally determined from accelerator observations.
What kind of particles? They must be as far as we know elementary and unstable ...
1
vote
1answer
118 views
Lepton masses in the Standard Model
Some simple questions regarding leptonic masses in the Standard Model (SM):
Why there is not an explicit mass term in addition to the effective mass term that arises from the Yukawa terms after ...
3
votes
2answers
227 views
Why are particles different sizes?
Is it correct in saying that a particles size is it's rest energy, and that particles don't actually have size (in the way you get different size objects)?
What defines what sizes a particle can be? ...
1
vote
1answer
170 views
Why not accurate masses of elementary particles?
In the standard model of particle accuracy in calculating mass is very low.
And you can not predict the upper limit of Higgs particle mass accurately. Why not accurate masses of elementary particles?
3
votes
1answer
100 views
Neutrino Oscillation and their gravitational implications
As I understand neutrinos, there are three different flavors, all with different masses. Although the masses of these neutrinos have not been directly measured, their mass differences have been. ...
0
votes
2answers
205 views
What is the interaction with Higgs field(s) that give the quarks so much different masses?
The masses of quarks are:
mu 2∼3 MeV md 4∼6 MeV
mc 1.3 GeV ms 80∼130 MeV
mt 173 GeV mb 4∼5 GeV
2
votes
1answer
187 views
What is meant by the rest energy of non-composite particle?
When talking about the rest energy of a composite particle such as a proton, part of the rest energy is accounted for by the internal kinetic energy of its constituent quarks. But what is physically ...
2
votes
2answers
544 views
How could something have negative mass?
With all the theories on how Neutrinos apparently broke the light barrier, there was one theory someone told me of how neutrinos might have less than zero mass, but she didn't explain how this was ...
3
votes
4answers
585 views
What if we could give photons some mass?
I was reading an article and these paragraphs got me wondering...
Before I list the replies, here is some background. The Higgs mechanism describes an invisible field that, it is argued, split one
...
4
votes
0answers
23 views
Classic mass predictions from Left-Right models with discrete symmetries?
I am covering the classic literature on predictions of Cabibbo angle or other relationships in the mass matrix. As you may remember, this research was a rage in the late seventies, after noticing that ...
11
votes
3answers
770 views
Decay of massless particles
We don't normally consider the possibility that massless particles could undergo radioactive decay. There are elementary arguments that make it sound implausible. (A bunch of the following is ...
6
votes
1answer
458 views
What is the difference between 'running' and 'current' quark mass?
When looking at the PDG, there is a difference between the 'running' and the 'current' quark masses.
Does anyone know which is the difference between these two?
2
votes
2answers
258 views
Will physic object in a perfect environment last/exist forever?
We know,i.e. wood/steel tables in earth will completely broken or disappear in a very future day.
If we put the table in a perfect/ideal environment (maybe in vacuum), will the disappear/broken still ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
What defines the mass of elementary particle?
The electron is particle.
The mass of electron is $9.10938215(45)\times 10^{−31}\, {\rm kg}$.
But why is the mass exactly what it is?
What in physics defines the mass of elementary particle?
3
votes
1answer
205 views
Why should the mass of leptons to be near of proton and QCD/chiral scales?
The mistery of the mass of the top being in the electroweak scale can be justified by the Higgs mechanism itself; in some sense the top mass is the only "natural" mass, the other masses of fermions ...
5
votes
2answers
689 views
The contribution to mass from the dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry
The claim is often made that the discovery of the Higgs boson will give us information about the origin of mass. However, the bare masses of the up and down quarks are only around 5 MeV, quite a bit ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Where does matter come from?
I admit, it's been a few years since I've studied physics, but the following question came to me when I was listening to a talk by Lawrence Krauss.
Is there any knowledge of from where matter that ...
16
votes
7answers
2k views
Is mass quantized?
I learned today in class that photons and light are quantized. I also remember that electric charge is quantized as well. I was thinking about these implications, and I was wondering if mass was ...
4
votes
3answers
351 views
What's with the very slightly larger mass of the neutron compared to the proton?
Neutron mass: 1.008664 u
Proton mass: 1.007276 u
Why the discrepancy?
On a related note, how does one go about measuring the mass of a neutron or proton, anyway?
