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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 5. Unified Models / a. Electro-weak unity

[unifying the weak and electromagnetic forces]

2 ideas

20633	The Higgs field is an electroweak plasma - but we don't know what stuff it consists of [Close]
	Full Idea: In 2012 it was confirmed that we are immersed in an electroweak plasma - the Higgs field. We curently have no knowledge of what this stuff might consist of.
	From: Frank Close (Theories of Everything [2017], 4 'Higgs')
	A reaction: The second sentence has my full attention. So we don't understand a field properly until we understand the 'stuff' it is made of? So what are all the familiar fields made of? Tell me more!

21171	The symmetry of unified electromagnetic and weak forces was broken by the Higgs field [New Sci.]
	Full Idea: In the very early hot universe the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces were one. The early emergence of the Higgs field led to electroweak symmetry breaking. The W and Z bosons grew fat, and the photon raced away mass-free.
	From: New Scientist writers (Why the Universe Exists [2017], 07)