Higgs field

English

Etymology

From Higgs (“a surname”) + field; named after British physicist Peter Higgs, who is credited with proposing what is now called the Higgs mechanism.

Noun

Higgs field (usually uncountable, plural Higgs fields)

1. (physics) A theoretical scalar field associated with electroweak symmetry breaking, the quantum of which is the Higgs boson; interaction with this field is hypothesised to give elementary particles their mass.

Related terms

• Higgs
• Higgs boson
• Higgsino
• Higgs mechanism
• Higgs particle