Do gauge bosons have mass?

The theoretical gauge boson for gravity is called a graviton. Gauge bosons are thought to interact with the Higgs field. This theoretical field is believed by many scientists to be responsible for why some gauge bosons – like W and Z bosons – have mass, while others – such as photons – do not have mass.

Why are gauge bosons massless?

In QFT, physicists found a theorem—Goldstone theorem which states that spontaneous breaking of continuous symmetry will lead to massless particle or so called Goldstone boson. As long as the spontaneous breaking of continuous symmetry happen, there will be massless particle showing up in the physical spectrum.

Are gauge bosons matter?

Yes, all bosons are matter.

What is local gauge transformation?

In physics, a gauge theory is a type of field theory in which the Lagrangian (and hence the dynamics of the system itself) does not change (is invariant) under local transformations according to certain smooth families of operations (Lie groups).

Why are bosons called gauge bosons?

In particle physics, a gauge boson is a bosonic elementary particle that mediates interactions among elementary fermions, and thus acts as a force carrier. Gauge bosons can carry any of the four fundamental interactions of nature. Therefore, all known gauge bosons are vector bosons.

Why are massless photons affected by gravity?

Matter and energy curve spacetime, and curved spacetime tell both matter and energy how to move. That’s why masses can exert a gravitational influence on photons: they curve space. The photon has no choice of what it needs to do.

What is the difference between a boson and a fermion?

A fermion is any particle that has an odd half-integer (like 1/2, 3/2, and so forth) spin. Bosons are those particles which have an integer spin (0, 1, 2…). All the force carrier particles are bosons, as are those composite particles with an even number of fermion particles (like mesons).

What is the gauge boson of the strong nuclear force?

The gauge boson, or the force interaction particle, of the strong nuclear force is the gluon.

Why do we use gauge transformation?

No physics can depend on the choice of this constant, but some choices make problems more easily solvable than others. This freedom to add a constant potential is called gauge freedom and the different potentials one can obtain that lead to the same physical field are generated by means of a gauge transformation.

Is gauge invariance a symmetry?

Since any kind of invariance under a field transformation is considered a symmetry, gauge invariance is sometimes called gauge symmetry. Gauge theories constrain the laws of physics, because all the changes induced by a gauge transformation have to cancel each other out when written in terms of observable quantities.

What are the 4 fundamental forces and their gauge bosons?

According to the present understanding, there are four fundamental interactions or forces: gravitation, electromagnetism, the weak interaction, and the strong interaction. Their magnitude and behaviour vary greatly, as described in the table below.

Are the transformations of gauge boson mass terms always forbidden?

Looking through the transformations of gauge boson mass terms, it seems that these are in fact always forbidden by their respective gauge symmetry. Is this correct? (So if there was no SU (2) symmetry, the photon and gluon would still need to be massless?)

Can a boson have mass?

Sure gauge bosons can have mass. The Higgs mechanism for one. Or in 2+1D, add a Chern-Simons term. Or in 3+1D, and a two-form gauge field B with the gauge symmetry B → B + d λ with λ being any 1-form, and add a B ∧ F coupling term.

Are gauge bosons non-renormalizable?

As far as renormalizability of gauge bosons, a nonabelian gauge theory with massive gauge bosons is non-renormalizable as I describe here: What evidence is there for the electroweak higgs mechanism? .