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I am pretty much a layman regarding particle physics. Reading popular accounts on the Higgs particle and the Higgs field, which supposedly explains (all?) the masses of the elementary particles by their interaction with it, I wondered whether this interaction can be considered as an additional (fifth) fundamental force.

Qmechanic
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freecharly
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    Exact duplicate http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/1080/ –  Sep 18 '16 at 22:02
  • Just to tweak your point: which supposedly explains (all?) the masses of the elementary particles by their interaction with it The Higgs mechanism is part of the reason particles have mass, but it is, by no means , the complete source of mass. Yes, I know, nothing in physics is simple, but TV and popsci pundits just give soundbites, unfortunately. Let me know if the other answer does not sort things out for you. –  Sep 18 '16 at 22:10
  • Thank you for referring me to the pretty much identical question "Why isn't Higgs coupling considered a fifth fundamental force?" It is my impression that most of the answers there, in spite (or because) of all the technical quantum field jargon, do not seem to give a definite answer to the question but ultimately consider it a "matter of taste", as one answer put it. So I might take as a result that "maybe" or "yes and no" it is a fundamental force, which somehow is not what I hoped for. – freecharly Sep 18 '16 at 22:51
  • Yes, I and don't want to add my totally non expert opinion to the mix of voices. What I would say is that, (apologies if this not news to you), the Higgs field is not based around a symmetry/guage principle, as the other forces are, and it's normal resting energy value is not equal to zero, which is odd compared to the 4 other forces, so if you use those as criteria, it is not a force like other forces. A far better source than I is this link, which is very good, imo https://profmattstrassler.com/articles-and-posts/particle-physics-basics/how-the-higgs-field-works-with-math/ regards –  Sep 18 '16 at 23:16
  • CountTo10 - Thank you very much! As you nicely put it, the symmetry/gauge principle plays a role in the majority of forces but not in the Higgs case. So it is the odd man out. But does it mean, that it is less fundamental? The link you provided seems to be promising, I will pursue this further... – freecharly Sep 18 '16 at 23:34
  • I honestly don't know if you could say it's any less fundamental, it had to exist at the big bang era otherwise, well, no us here today, just particles all travelling at c. It also explains the weak force interactions, without which we would would not be here either. So don't diss it.....: ) –  Sep 18 '16 at 23:40

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