6.1 Spontaneous symmetry breaking

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a key concept in particle physics, explaining how particles acquire mass. It occurs when a system shifts from a symmetric to an asymmetric state without external influence, playing a crucial role in the Higgs mechanism.

This process is central to the Standard Model, unifying electromagnetic and weak interactions. It's linked to phase transitions in physical systems and has far-reaching implications for our understanding of fundamental particles and the early universe.

Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Concept and Mechanism

Top images from around the web for Concept and Mechanism

• 

  Spontaneous symmetry breaking - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Higgs boson - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Higgs mechanism - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Spontaneous symmetry breaking - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Higgs boson - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 3

Top images from around the web for Concept and Mechanism

• 

  Spontaneous symmetry breaking - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Higgs boson - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Higgs mechanism - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Spontaneous symmetry breaking - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Higgs boson - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 3

• Spontaneous symmetry breaking occurs when a system transitions from a symmetric state to an asymmetric state without external intervention
• Mechanism by which fundamental particles acquire mass in particle physics
• Higgs mechanism exemplifies spontaneous symmetry breaking in the Standard Model
• Associated with phase transitions in physical systems (paramagnetic to ferromagnetic state)
• Vacuum state of quantum field theory can exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking leading to new particles or interactions
• Goldstone's theorem states every spontaneously broken continuous symmetry produces a massless boson (Goldstone boson)
• In gauge theories, Higgs mechanism allows Goldstone bosons to be "eaten" by gauge bosons giving them mass

Examples and Applications

• Ferromagnetism demonstrates spontaneous symmetry breaking in condensed matter physics
• Superconductivity involves spontaneous breaking of electromagnetic gauge symmetry
• Chiral symmetry breaking in quantum chromodynamics explains properties of light mesons
• Electroweak symmetry breaking unifies electromagnetic and weak interactions
• Cosmological inflation theories incorporate spontaneous symmetry breaking to explain early universe expansion
• Nambu-Goldstone modes in liquid crystals result from spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry
• Bose-Einstein condensation breaks global U(1) symmetry producing coherent quantum state

Potential Energy Function in Symmetry Breaking

Shape and Characteristics

• Potential energy function V(φ) describes energy landscape of physical system in terms of field variables
• Typically has "Mexican hat" or "wine bottle" shape in complex plane for spontaneous symmetry breaking
• Ground state of system corresponds to minimum of potential energy function
• Single minimum at origin indicates symmetric state
• Multiple degenerate minima away from origin signify symmetry breaking
• Choice of particular minimum as vacuum state breaks system symmetry
• Shape determines nature and strength of particle interactions in broken symmetry phase

Mathematical Representation

• Generic form of symmetry-breaking potential: $V(φ) = μ^2|φ|^2 + λ|φ|^4$
• μ^2 < 0 and λ > 0 for symmetry-breaking scenario
• Minima occur at $|φ| = v = \sqrt{-μ^2/(2λ)}$
• Expansion around minimum reveals massive and massless modes
• Radial excitations correspond to Higgs boson
• Angular excitations represent Goldstone bosons
• Quantum corrections can modify classical potential (Coleman-Weinberg mechanism)

Consequences of Symmetry Breaking

Particle Masses and Interactions

• Generates mass terms for gauge bosons through interactions with Higgs field
• Explains W and Z bosons mass acquisition while photon remains massless
• Fermion masses generated through Yukawa couplings to Higgs field after symmetry breaking
• Particle masses proportional to coupling strengths with Higgs field
• Introduces new interactions (Higgs boson self-interactions, couplings to other particles)
• Broken symmetry phase exhibits different particle spectra and interaction strengths compared to symmetric phase
• Hierarchy problem arises from large difference between weak scale and Planck scale related to symmetry breaking

Phenomenological Implications

• Predicts existence of Higgs boson discovered at Large Hadron Collider in 2012
• Explains origin of electroweak scale and why weak interactions are short-ranged
• Provides mechanism for CP violation in electroweak theory through complex Yukawa couplings
• Affects running of coupling constants and renormalization group flow
• Influences particle decay rates and branching ratios in high-energy collisions
• Shapes thermal history of early universe and phase transitions during cosmic evolution
• Impacts precision electroweak measurements and constrains physics beyond Standard Model

Local vs Global Symmetry Breaking

Characteristics and Differences

• Local symmetry breaking involves gauge symmetries with spacetime-dependent transformation parameters
• Global symmetry breaking involves symmetries with constant transformation parameters across spacetime
• Local symmetry breaking gauge bosons acquire mass through Higgs mechanism
• Global symmetry breaking produces massless Goldstone bosons
• Higgs mechanism exemplifies local symmetry breaking in electroweak theory of Standard Model
• Chiral symmetry breaking in QCD exemplifies global symmetry breaking resulting in pions as pseudo-Goldstone bosons
• Local symmetry breaking preserves gauge invariance crucial for theory renormalizability

Physical Examples and Analogies

• Anderson-Higgs mechanism describes conversion of global to local symmetry breaking in superconductors
• Meissner effect in superconductors analogous to photon mass generation in Higgs mechanism
• Josephson effect demonstrates consequences of broken gauge symmetry in superconducting junctions
• Magnetic domains in ferromagnets illustrate spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry
• Liquid crystals exhibit various phases with different degrees of broken rotational and translational symmetry
• Cosmic strings and domain walls result from global symmetry breaking in early universe
• Baryogenesis theories often involve interplay between local and global symmetry breaking