In the previous post in this series, we saw how the Higgs mechanism gave rise to the masses of the weak interaction force particles W+, W–, and Z. We also saw how the process of spontaneous symmetry breaking that was part of that mechanism resulted in the Higgs field having a non-zero average value even in the vacuum, unlike every other field. (For previous posts in this series, click on the Higgs folder just below the blog post title.) [Read more…]