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How the Higgs field gives mass to elementary particles

In this article adapted from his new book, “Waves in an Impossible Sea,” physicist Matt Strassler explains that the origin of mass in the universe has a lot to do with music.

By suggesting that the Higgs field creates mass by exerting drag, they violate both Newton’s first and second laws of motion. Moreover, if the Higgs field were really a substance, it would provide a point of comparison against which we could measure our absolute motion, violating both Galileo’s and Einstein’s principles of relativity. But I was completely astonished to learn, back when I was a graduate student, that the structures of the universe, even within my own body, operate on similar principles.

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