A Higgs Field Does Not Give Inertia to Fermions
This book presents a model of fermions (spin 1/2 particles like electrons, quarks, etc.) that achieves rest mass (inertia) without the use of a Higgs field. The LHC has found a particle with energy in the range of 125 GeV which has been named the Higgs boson. However, in spite of articles in the press claiming that the Higgs boson gives rest mass to all matter, there is no experimental proof of this. A distinction is going to be made between the mechanism by which ordinary matter (leptons and quarks) gain rest mass and the mechanism by which W and Z bosons gain rest mass. Almost all inertia in the universe is a property of fermions, so the following discussion will exclude W and Z bosons which may have a connection to the Higgs boson.
To understand the origin of fermion inertia, chapter 1 of the book starts with a thought experiment. Suppose that there was a box with hypothetical 100% reflecting internal walls. It would be possible to trap some light energy in such a box. A freely propagating photon is a massless particle, but what about a “confined photon” trapped in the box. That photon is forced to have the box’s specific frame of reference. A calculation at the end of chapter 1 shows that the photon pressure exerted on the walls of the box is uniform if the box is not accelerating, but the pressure becomes unequal if the box is accelerated. This difference in pressure results in a net force which resists acceleration. This is the inertia of the confined photon energy and it exactly equals the inertia of an equal amount of energy in the form of matter particles. This is not a coincidence. If energy in the form of a particle in a box exhibited a different amount of inertia as an equal amount of photon energy in a box, then this would be a violation of the conservation of momentum. In other words, it is not sufficient to merely have a mechanism that imparts inertia to particles, the mechanism must give exactly the correct amount of inertia so that there is no difference between energy in the form of light and the same energy in the form of particles. For example, an electron with internal energy of 511 KeV of internal energy must have exactly the same amount of inertia as 511 KeV of confined photons.
The Higgs mechanism does not address this requirement and therefore is vague on exactly how this requirement is met. The model of a fermion proposed in the book meets this requirement without resorting to any external effect such as the Higgs field. The spacetime particle model gains inertia by the same mechanism that a confined photon gains inertia. Energy propagating at the speed of light is confined to a specific frame of reference. The description of how this is accomplished requires an explanation of both the properties of spacetime and a description of the spacetime particle model. Both the book and the relatively short technical article below describe the particle model and the mechanism by which fermions exhibit inertia. The book is much more complete, but the technical article introduces some key points in a condensed way.
Download the book: The Universe is Only Spacetime
Download the article: Spacetime Based Foundation of Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity