Mass - inertia and momentum

The subatomic particles

Movement in the model

Momentum in the model

Inertia in the model

Giving particles of matter momentum

Emission of light

Neutrinos do not interact with matter

Inertia and momentum are different things

This physics model uses an elementary strand shaped particle to construct the subatomic particles

The neutrino and light particles are constructed as helix shaped particles

And the electron, positron, left-handed 'neutral' particle, right-handed 'neutral' particle, are constructed as torus shaped particles

In this physics model

The proton is a positron sandwiched between a pair of the left and right 'neutral' particles

And the neutron is a proton with an electron embedded into the side of the proton

The following animation shows the shapes and structures of the model's subatomic particles, the  Particles  button steps through the particles, the  Run  button start / stops the animation (any of the buttons can be used in pause mode)

Movement in this physics model

Comes from the head and tail of the elementary strand shaped particle

Moving continuously at constant speeds, in three dimensional space, against the model's static universal reference frame

The neutrino and particle of light are helix shaped particles

The continuous constant speed of the strand shaped particle

Gives the neutrino and particle of light a persistent forward movement

In the model

The neutrino and light particle

Have the quality of persistent momentum

The particles of matter are torus shaped particles

The natural state of the torus shaped particles

Is to be stationary with respect to the model's static universal reference frame

With the strand shaped particles moving continuously at a single constant speed, inside a particle of matter

For a particle of matter to move forwards

The particle of matter's perfectly round torus shape has to distort

Distorting the torus

Causes a greater amount of internal movement to be on one side or other

And the particle of matter moves forwards

The following animation shows an electron and a proton in the model, changing shape when the particles move, the  Move Forwards  button starts the particles moving forwards, the  Run  button start / stops the animation (any of the buttons can be used in pause mode)

The strand shaped particles inside a particle of matter stick together

And continuously pull a distorted particle of matter

Back into its perfectly round torus shape

This gives a particle of matter

A continuous resistance to being moved

With respect to the model's static universal reference frame

Particles of matter in the model

Have persistent inertia, they have a mass-like property built in

But the particles of matter do not have persistent momentum

For a particle of matter in the model, to gain persistent momentum

The particle of matter requires a particle of light, with its persistent momentum

To push the particle of matter along

The following animation shows particles of light in the model attaching themselves to an electron and an electron pair, and pushing the electrons along, the  Run  button start / stops the animation (any of the buttons can be used in pause mode)

The gain in momentum, and therefore the gain in speed

Is related to the size of the particle of light

That is pushing the particle of matter along

With light pushing particles of matter along

This is why particles of matter in the model

Do not move faster than light

The persistent speed of a particle of matter is altered

When particles of light are added to the attached particle of light that is pushing the particle of matter along

Or when particles of light, or parts of a particle of light, are removed from the particle of light that is pushing the particle of matter along

When a particle of light is attached to a particle of matter and pushing the particle of matter along

The particle of light is unable to move forward at its natural forward speed

The forward motion of the particle of light is reduced, but not the speed of the strand shaped particles themselves that are inside the particle of light

When a portion of the attached particle of light is released from a particle of matter

The restriction on the released particle of light's forward motion through space is removed

The released particle of light returns to its natural forward speed, since the speed of the strand shaped particles inside the particle of light, never changed from their continuous constant speed

A neutrino has a limited interaction with matter

As its single helix structure

Does not easily attach itself to a particle of matter

In the model

Particles of matter have inertia but not momentum

And particles of light have momentum but not inertia

To match our universe

Inertia and momentum need to be indistinguishable

And yet, in the model, inertia and momentum have different causes

As a starting point, the model matches our universe in the sense that

The final persistent speed of any of its particles of matter

Always correlates to the momentum of the particle of light that is pushing the particle of matter along

A suggestion is required

As to how small portions of the attached particle of light may be incrementally removed

When a particle of matter slows down against the model's static universal reference frame, due to an electric, magnetic, or gravitational field

And similarly, a suggestion is required

As to how small amounts of particles of light may be incrementally added

When a particle of matter speeds up against the model's static universal reference frame, due to an electric, magnetic, or gravitational field

An approach for the above

Could perhaps be the mechanism

By which substances gain and lose heat

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The Standard Model's understanding of E = mc²

This physics model's understanding of E = mc²

The invariant mass of a moving particle of matter does not change

Matter and the speed of light

In the Standard model of particle physics

The relationship between mass and energy is described using Einstein's equation

E = mc²

Which on translation to the relativistic form produces

E² = (m₀c²)² + (pc)²

Where

E is energy

m₀ is invariant mass

p is momentum

c is the speed of light (a constant based on the units used)

For example, the invariant mass of a proton is comprised of

8% is the proportion of mass from the quark condensate

32% is the proportion of mass from the quark kinetic energy

37% is the proportion of mass from the gluon kinetic energy

23% is the proportion of mass from the anomalous gluonic contribution

In this physics model

The relationship between mass and energy

Is described using the structure of the particles

In this physics model, the relativistic equation

E² = (m₀c²)² + (pc)²

Is explained as

For a particle of matter (or a particle of antimatter)

Energy is the total number of strand shaped particles

Invariant mass is the number of strand shaped particles in the torus shaped particle of matter

Momentum is the number of strand shaped particles in the helix shaped particle of light that is attached and pushing the particle of matter along

For example, the invariant mass of a proton in the model, if related to experimental data, would be comprised of

00.054% would be the proportion of mass from the torus shaped positron particle

49.973% would be the proportion of mass from the torus shaped left-handed 'neutral' particle

49.973% would be the proportion of mass from the torus shaped right-handed 'neutral' particle

For a particle of light that is not attached to a particle of matter

Energy is the number of strand shaped particles in the particle of light

Invariant mass is zero (because there are no strand shaped particles present that are in a torus shaped particle)

Momentum is the number of strand shaped particles in the helix shaped particle of light

And for a collection of particles

Energy is the total number of strand shaped particles in the collection of particles

Invariant mass is the number of strand shaped particles in the torus shaped particles of matter

Momentum is the number of strand shaped particles in the helix shaped particles of light and neutrinos, comprising of particles of light that are attached to a particle of matter, particles of light that are not attached to a particle of matter, and (unattached) neutrinos

In this physics model, when an electron or a proton moves

The invariant mass of the electron or proton is not the quality that changes

The electron or proton's invariant mass is related to the number of strand shaped particles that are in the electron or proton's torus structure

What does change though

Is the electron or proton's momentum

Which is related to the number of strand shaped particles that are in the attached particle of light, that is pushing the electron or proton along

In this physics model

Particles of matter do not move forwards faster than light

Because it is a particle of light that pushes the particle of matter along

For a particle of matter

Reaching the speed of light is also unattainable too

The particle of matter's persistent resistance to forward movement, always hinders the movement of the attached particle of light to some extent

In the model

There is nothing special about the speed of light

A particle of light experiences events just as any other particle experiences events

Nor is there anything special about faster than light travel

For that is how the elementary strand shaped particle moves

As a consequence, for example, the surface of the electron has a constant movement that is faster than the speed of light

Perhaps one way to think of movement in the model, is that everything in the atomic world moves at a reasonable, steady pace

And it is us who are very large

And it is us who do things very, very slowly

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The Higgs mechanism

Question about mass and the Higgs mechanism

The Standard model of particle physics uses the Higgs field and the Higgs mechanism to model mass, inertia and momentum

For reference, here is a YouTube video (2013) of the Veritasium channel discussing where the mass of the proton comes from

For reference, here is a YouTube video (2023) of the But Why? channel discussing mass and energy

For reference, here is a YouTube video (2012) of Professor Leonard Susskind's Stanford University lecture discussing the Higgs mechanism and what it means to give mass to particles

The following is a question posted on the public forum Quora asking about mass and the Higgs field

"Are all (elementary) particles continuously interacting with the Higgs field to have mass?"

"Or just one time and then they keep their mass?"

And the reply (copyright Viktor Toth 2016)

This question is a perfect example why it is very difficult to provide a "popular" explanation of a complicated physical theory

No, elementary particles that acquire their masses by interacting with the Higgs field do not interact with it once, nor do they interact with it continuously. At least that's not how I would describe what happens

The actual picture is more subtle, and symmetry breaking plays an essential role

Take the electron

Without symmetry breaking, it would be massless, and it would be interacting with the pre-symmetry-breaking form of the Higgs field (the so-called Higgs doublet)

Obviously, this interaction would only do anything when excitations of the Higgs field are, in fact, present; in the vacuum, the electron would be moving unimpeded, as a massless particle

But the Higgs field is a very special animal

For all other fields, the field is in its lowest energy state when it has zero excitations (no particles present)

Not so with the Higgs

As a result, the Higgs field has a so-called vacuum expectation value

(To make sense of this sentence, it is really important to keep in mind that we are talking about a field theory here; particles are abstractions, quantized excitations of these fields, the real, fundamental physical object is the field itself)

Symmetry breaking means settling down to the lowest energy state

What used to be excitations of the Higgs field now define the new vacuum

But in this new vacuum, the electron behaves as if it was interacting with the Higgs field even when no excitations of the Higgs field are present!

Essentially (and very crudely speaking), instead of interacting with Higgs particles, the electron now interacts with the Higgs field vacuum expectation value, which is a constant value; the strength of the interaction serves as the electron's mass

In other words (and still very crudely speaking; particle physicists, please don't beat me up), because the electron has the ability to interact with the Higgs field before symmetry breaking, it behaves as a massive particle after symmetry breaking even when the Higgs field is in its so-called ground state (no Higgs particles present)

The mechanism by which massive vector bosons acquire their masses is different, but also related to symmetry breaking; and neutrinos, not to mention the Higgs itself, have a priori masses not related to symmetry breaking

I understand that this explanation is likely more confusing than helpful. Unfortunately, I don't think it is possible to offer more clarity without going into the math.

This is one of those cases in theoretical physics when nontechnical explanations can only go so far

It's only through the relevant math that terms like symmetry breaking or vacuum expectation value acquire real meaning

Summary

The explanation of mass is complicated

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