Solid state and spontaneous symmetry breaking: A homage from the standard model

Summary

The theory of the Standard Model cannot give information on the value of the coupling constants and the masses of the particles. On the other hand, according to Landau and Lifshitz and further developments, we must require the existence of the classical objects (the detectors) for a satisfactory formulation of the measurement process. We conjecture that this statement implies the existence of a “solid state” of matter, in order to give operational meaning to any theory. From this perspective we analyze the conditions of stability of solid state, in order to define their implications on the fundamental constants and on the masses of particles. The result is that the requirement of stable solid state implies the condition that the electron should be much lighter than the proton. We recall how spontaneous symmetry breaking is the basis of the Standard Model and of the discovery of W± , Z°. The fifties and the sixties were intense with proposals pointing to the unification of weak and electromagnetic forces. But the crucial step came when the unification program was wedded with an other important notion: spontaneous symmetry breaking. This is an idea that orginated in condensed-matter physics and was injected into particle physics by Nambu and Jona Lasinio. The links between the ideas of BCS theory and the Standard Model are considered in this paper.