The Higgs boson discovered at the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, in 2012, is what, according to the Standard Model of particle physics gives all other fundamental particles mass. However, despite the work of thousands of researchers around the world, nobody has been able to figure out exactly how it does that or why some particles are more massive than others.

However, there is another way to understand mass and its resistance to acceleration based solely on the field concepts of Einstein’s theories.

For example, Einstein defined the physicality of mass in terms of the energy density associated with a displacement in space-time which he quantified by the equation E=mc^2. This means he also defined the reason some particles are heavier than others is because they have a greater displacement and therefore a greater energy content than other masses. Pitting it another way the equation E=mc^2 not only defines physicality of mass but also quantifies why some particles are heavier that others in terms of in terms of the field properties of space-time.

However, his equations and the observations of particles in particle accelerators tell us the relativistic mass of a body increases over its finite rest mass as it is accelerated with respect to an observer and that energy must be added to it to do so.

He also tells us the rate at which energy can added to a mass is limited by the speed of light. This means according to Relativity, the reason why mass resists acceleration is because the speed at which energy can be added to it is limited. Putting it another way according to it, the reason for its resistance to acceleration MAY not be related to the field properties of a Higgs boson but to the field properties of space-time that limits the rate at which energy can be added to it.

This conclusion is supported by the fact that because Einstein’s relativistic equations tell us that mass or its energy content increases as it approaches the velocity of light it will take more energy to make an incremental change in it. Therefore, because it limits the speed at which energy can be added to it, it will resist acceleration more than one that is at rest with respect to an observer.

In other words, one does not need the Higgs boson to explain a particles mass and why it resists a change in motion because one can use the OBSERVABLE properties of our environment and of Einstein’s theories to do so.

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But what does the discovery of the Higgs Boson tell us about the reality of the Higgs field.
This is an import question because its existence is based on abstract mathematical constructs which may or may not describe its reality.  In other words even though they may have predicted its existence it has not yet been connected it to the observable reality of what we can see and touch.

The importance of connecting a theoretical idea to the observable properties of our world was demonstrated by Einstein 200 years after Newton realized that his gravitational theory meant “one body may act upon another at a distance”.

“It is inconceivable that inanimate brute matter should, without the mediation of something else which is not material, operate upon and affect other matter without mutual contact…That gravity should be innate, inherent, and essential to matter, so that one body may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum, without the mediation of anything else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to another, is to me so great an absurdity that I believe no man who has in philosophical matters a competent faculty of thinking can ever fall into it.”

However Einstein realized that one can understand how gravity “may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum” by extrapolating the physical image of how objects move on a curve surface in a three-dimensional environment to a curved four dimensional space-time manifold. This allowed him to conceptually understand gravity in terms of a physical image based on our three-dimension environment.

In other words the mathematics developed by Newton was only able to quantitatively predict gravitational forces while Einstein gave us the ability to conceptually understand why “one body may act upon another at a distance” by physically connecting it to the reality of what we can see and touch.

However he was unable to tell us what mass is, he was only able tell us how mass interacts with space-time.

As Steven Weinberg said “Mass tells space-time how to curve while space-time tells mass how to move”.

This is similar to Newton in that he was able to mathematically define how mass gravitational interacts with other masses but was unable to understand or define a physical mechanism that could account for that interaction.

Einstein was often quoted as saying “If a new theory (such as that associated with the Higgs boson) was not based on a physical image simple enough for a child to understand, it was probably worthless.”

In other words to fully understand the theoretical significance of the Higgs Field and why it is responsible for mass one should be able to describe how it interacts with mass in terms of a physical image based on what we can see and touch in our three-dimensional world much as Einstein was able describe how space and time interacted with each other to cause gravity.

Most scientists would agree that the best way to accomplish this would be by observing how mass interacts with space-time.

Unfortunately mass does not directly interact with time because we do not see a change in it no matter how long we wait however we can observe how its position in space can change with time.

This suggests that we may be able to form a physical image of the reality of the Higgs field if we could redefine Einstein space-time geometry associated with forces in terms of the spatial properties of position we associated  with mass.

Einstein gave us the ability to do this when he defined the geometric properties of a space-time universe in terms of the balance between mass and energy defined by the equation E=mc^2 and the constant velocity of light because that provided a method of converting the displacement in space-time he associated with energy to its equivalent spatial  displacement in four *spatial* dimensions.  Additionally because the velocity of light is constant he also defined a one to one quantitative correspondence between his space-time universe and one made up of four *spatial* dimensions.

This was the bases for assuming as was done in the article “Defining energy” Nov 27, 2007 that all forms of energy including thermo and that associated with mass can be derived in terms of a spatial displacement in a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension instead of one in a space-time environment.

However changing ones perspective on the geometric structure of the universe form one of space-time to four *spatial* dimensions, as was just shown to be possible gives one the ability to define the physical mechanism by which the Higgs Field or the field properties of four *spatial* dimension creates mass and why it is quantized in the fundamental particles of the Standard Model in terms of a physical image formed by our three-dimensional environment.

For example one can form a physical image of why mass is quantized, as was done in the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” Oct. 4, 2007″ by extrapolating the image of a wave and its resonant properties in three dimension environment to one made up of four *spatial* dimensions. This would be analogous to how Einstein, as mentioned earlier was able to explain gravity by extrapolating the physical image of how objects move in a three-dimension space to one consisting of four dimensional space-time.

(Louis de Broglie was the first to predict the existence of the wave properties of mass when he theorized that all particles have a wave component.  His theories were confirmed by the discovery of electron diffraction by crystals in 1927 by Davisson and Germer).

Briefly that article showed the four conditions required for resonance to occur in a classical environment, an object, or substance with a natural frequency, a forcing function at the same frequency as the natural frequency, the lack of a damping frequency and the ability for the substance to oscillate spatial would be meet in one consisting of four.

The existence of four *spatial* dimensions would give a matter wave that Louis de Broglie associated with a particle the ability to oscillate spatially on a “surface” between a third and fourth *spatial* dimensions thereby fulfilling one of the requirements for classical resonance to occur.

These oscillations would be caused by an event such as the decay of a subatomic particle or the shifting of an electron in an atomic orbital.  This would force the “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold to oscillate with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension at a frequency associated with the energy of that event.

However, the oscillations caused by such an event would serve as forcing function allowing a resonant system or “structure” to be established in four *spatial* dimensions.

Classical mechanics tells us that resonant systems can only take on the discrete or quantized energies associated with a fundamental or a harmonic of their fundamental frequency

Therefore, these resonant systems in a four *spatial* dimensions would define mass and its quantum mechanical properties because of the fact that the volumes of space containing them would have a higher concentration of energy and therefore the mass associated with those volumes would be greater.

This suggest that the Higgs field is made up of the field properties of four *spatial* dimensions and that the magnitude of a mass would be dependent on its geometrical configuration.

If true one should be able to use those field concepts to explain why the mass of corresponding particle types across the three fundamental families of particles in the Standard Model listed in the table below grows larger in each successive family.

As mentioned earlier the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” showed that one can derive the mass of a particle in terms of the energy contained within a resonant system generated by a matter wave on a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension while the article “Defining energy” showed that one can derive the energy or temperature of an environment in terms a displacement in the same three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.

Therefore using the concepts developed in those articles one could derive the total mass of a particle in terms of the sum of the energies associated with that resonant structure and the displacement in the “surface” of three-dimensional space associated with the energy of the environment it is occupying.

Yet Classical Mechanics tells us there will be specific points in space where the matter wave that Louis de Broglie associated with a particle can interact with the energy content or temperature of its environment to form a resonant system.

Therefore, the mass of each family member would not only be dependent on the energy associated with the resonant system that defined their quantum mechanical properties in the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” but also on temperature or energy of the environment they are occupying.

Thus suggest the reason “The corresponding particle types across the three families have identical properties except for their mass, which grows larger in each successive family.” is because of an interaction between the resonant properties defined in the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” and the mass content of the environment they are occupying.

This means the particles in the first family would be found in relativity low energy environments, are relatively stable, and for the most part can be observed in nature.  However, the particles in the second and third families would be for the most part unstable and can be observed only in high-energy environments of particle accelerators.  The exception is the Muon in the second family, which is only observed in the high-energy environment of cosmic radiation.

The relative masses of the fundamental particles increases in each successive family because the higher-energy environments where they occupy would result in the corresponding particles in each successive family to be formed with a greater relative “separation” in the “surfaces” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.

Therefore, the corresponding particles in the second family will have a greater mass than the particles in the first family because the “separation”, with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension of the three-dimensional space manifold associated with them is greater than the “separation” associated with the first family.

Similarly, the corresponding particles in the third family will have a greater mass than those in the second family because the “separation”, with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension, of the three-dimensional space manifold associated with them is greater than the spatial “separation” associated with the second family.

Additionally the corresponding particle types across the three families have “identical properties” because as shown in the article “The geometry of quarks” Mar. 15, 2009 they are related to the orientation of the “W” axis of the fourth *spatial* dimension with the axis of three-dimensional space.  Therefore, each corresponding particle across the three families will have similar properties because the orientation of the “W” axis of the fourth *spatial* dimension with respect to the axis of three-dimensional space is the same for the corresponding particles in all of the families.

This explains why “The corresponding particle types across the three families having identical properties except for their mass, which grows larger in each successive family” in terms of the properties of classical resonance and the field properties of four *spatial* dimensions.

This shows how one can use the field properties of four *spatial* dimension or the Higgs Field to understand the causality of the masses of the fundamental particles in the Standard model in terms of a physical image based on the reality of what we can see and touch in our three dimensional environment.

However assuming the Higgs Field is created by the geometry of four *spatial* dimensional allows one to understand the dynamics of the mass of the Higgs boson in same terms as the fundamental particles defined above.

As mentioned earlier the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” showed that one can derive the total mass of all particles in terms of the sum of energy contained within a resonant system generated by a matter wave on a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension and the energy associated with displacement in the “surface” of three-dimensional space associated the environment it is occupying.

However if one assumes as was done above the Higgs field is created by a spatial displacement in the “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension one can conceptually understand how it interacts with space to create its potential energy in terms of the physical image formed by water in a dam. This is because the potential energy of water is defined by its spatial separation with respect to the bottom of a dam.  Therefore according to the above theoretical model, the potential energy or mass contained in the Higgs boson would be defined by its spatial separation in a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.

In other words it gives one the ability to define the energy and therefore the mass of the Higgs bosom and where it should be located in an environment consisting of four *spatial* dimension in terms of the physical image of water in a dam.  This is because as mentioned earlier the potential energy of water in a dam is solely dependent on the height of the dam while that of the Higgs Boson would be dependent on magnitude of the spatial separation of the three-dimension space manifold it is occupying with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.

This shows how it is possible to understand the reality of the Higgs Field in terms of a physical image by reformatting (as was done in the article “Reformulating space-time” Oct 1, 2013) Einstein General Theory of Relativity in terms of four *spatial* dimensions.

It should be remember that Einstein’s genius allows us to chose whether to view the reality of the Higgs Field in either a space-time environment or one consisting of four *spatial* dimension when he defined the geometry of space-time in terms of energy/mass and the constant velocity of light.

Later Jeff

Copyright Jeffrey O’Callaghan 2013 

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One of them is that it would allow for theoretically defining a common mechanism for gravity and the color charge of quarks by extrapolating observations made in a three-dimensional environment to a fourth *spatial* dimension.
For example in the article “The geometry of quarks” Mar. 15, 2009 it was shown one can derive their electrical or color properties in terms of a displacement in a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.

Quantum Chromodynamics, which is an integral part of the Standard Model of Particle Physics, defines how quarks interact with themselves and each other to form particles such as protons and neutrons.  The word quantum stands for the fact that interactions (forces between particles) on this level can be represented as things that occur only in chunks called quarks.  The word Chromodynamics stands for the color properties it associates with them.

In the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” Oct. 4, 2007  it was shown the quantum mechanical properties of particles could be derived in terms of a resonant system formed on “surface” a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.

However, observations of particles indicate they are made up of distinct components called quarks of which there are six types, the UP/Down, Charm/Strange and Top/Bottom.  The Up, Charm and Top have a fractional charge of 2/3.  The Down, Strange and Bottom have a fractional charge of -1/3.  Scientists have also determined that quarks can take on one of three different configurations they have designated by the colors red, blue, and green.

But if space was made up of four *spatial* dimensions one should be able to explain why quarks have a fractional charge and how they interact to form particles in terms of the geometry four *spatial* dimension.

The article Defining energy Nov. 26, 2007 showed it is possible to define all forms of energy including electrical in terms of a displacement in a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.

However, we as three-dimensional beings can only observe three of the four spatial dimensions.  Therefore, the energy associated with a displacement in its “surface” with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension will be observed by us as being directed along that “surface”.  However, because two of the three-dimensions we can observe are parallel to that surface we will observe it to have 2/3 of the total energy associated with that displacement and we will observe the other 1/3 as being directed along the signal dimension that is perpendicular to that surface.

This means the 2/3 fractional charge of the Up, Charm and Top may be related to the energy directed along a “surface” of a displaced three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a four *spatial* dimension while the -1/3 charge of The Down, Strange and Bottom may be associated with the energy that is directed perpendicular to that “surface”.

The reason why quarks come in three configurations or colors with a fractional charge of 1/3 or 2/3 may be because, as was shown in the article Embedded Dimensions Nov. 22, 2007 there are three ways the individual axis of three-dimensional space can be oriented with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.  Therefore, the configuration or “colors” of each quark may be related to how its energy is distributed in three-dimensional space with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.

However, it may also explain why it takes three quarks of different “colors” to form a particle because, as mentioned earlier one can define a particle in terms of a resonant system on a “surface” a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.  If the colors of each quark represent the central axis associated with its charge then to form a stable resonate system would require three quarks that have different central axis to balance its energy with respect to the axes of three-dimensional space.  A particle could not exist if two quarks have the same central axis or color because it would cause an energy imbalance along that axis.  Therefore, a particle consisting of anything but quarks of three different colors would not stable.

This shows that it is possible to define the electrical properties of quarks and how they combine to form particles in terms of the geometry of four *spatial* dimensions.

The link between gravity and the electrical properties of quarks can be found by the fact that they are both a result of a displacement in a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension. 

In the article “Why Space-time?” it was shown one can derive gravity in terms of a symmetrical curvature caused by a displacement in a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimensions that article associated with gravity. Symmetrical in the sense that the magnitude of the deformation is equally distributed throughout each axis of three-dimensional space.

One can understand how by comparing effects this curvature has on objects in a three dimensional environment to the effects a rod pushing down on a surface of a rubber diaphragm that has on marble on it.

The marble on the diaphragm will represent the energy/mass of an object and the rod will represent the “W” axis of a fourth *spatial* dimension.

(The “W” axis of a fourth *spatial* dimension was defined in the article Embedded Dimensions Oct 27, 2007)

If the end of the rod is orientated perpendicular to the “surface” of the diaphragm and is allowed to touch it without putting any pressure on it, the surface of the diaphragm will remain flat. The marble on the flat diaphragm would not move.

However, if pressure is applied to the rod, the “surface” of the diaphragm will become displaced and will no longer be perpendicular to the rod.

Gravitational forces will then have a tangential component along the “surface” of the rubber diaphragm. The tangential component of the gravitational force directed along the “surface” of the diaphragm will cause the marble to move towards the apex of the depression.

However, what makes electrical forces associated with quarks different from gravitational is that the displacement caused by them on a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold is not symmetrical as was shown earlier with respect to the axis of three-dimensional space whereas those of gravity are.

This shows that one of the theoretical advantages to defining the universe in terms of four *spatial* dimensional instead of four dimensional space time is that it allows one to physically connect the color charge of quark with gravity.

Later Jeff

Copyright 2011 Jeffrey O’Callaghan

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