History of electroweak symmetry breaking

7th International Workshop DICE2014 Spacetime – Matter – Quantum Mechanics

物理学;力学

Kibble, T.W.B.^1

Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London

SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom^1

关键词: Electromagnetic interactions;    Electroweak symmetry breaking;    Electroweak theory;    Goldstone theorem;    Higgs mechanism;    Imperial College;    Second World War;    Symmetry-breaking;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/626/1/012001/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/626/1/012001

学科分类：力学，机械学

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

In this talk, I recall the history of the development of the unified electroweak theory, incorporating the symmetry-breaking Higgs mechanism, as I saw it from my standpoint as a member of Abdus Salam's group at Imperial College. I start by describing the state of physics in the years after the Second World War, explain how the goal of a unified gauge theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions emerged, the obstacles encountered, in particular the Goldstone theorem, and how they were overcome, followed by a brief account of more recent history, culminating in the historic discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012.