Lesson plan
Electroweak scale
In particle physics, the electroweak scale, also known as the Fermi scale, is the energy scale around 246 GeV, a typical energy of processes described by the electroweak theory. The particular number 246 GeV is taken to be the vacuum expectation value v = (G_F \sqrt{2})^{-1/2} of the Higgs field (where G_F is the Fermi coupling constant). In some cases the term electroweak scale is used to refer to the temperature of electroweak symmetry breaking, 159.5±1.5 GeV. In other cases, the term is used more loosely to refer to energies in a broad range around 10 2 - 10 3 GeV. This is within reach of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is designed for about 10 4 GeV in proton–proton collisions. Interactions may have been above this scale during the electroweak epoch. In the unextended Standard Model, the transition from the electroweak epoch was not a first or a second order phase transition but a continuous crossover, preventing any baryogenesis. However many extensions to the standard model including supersymmetry and the inert double model have a first order electroweak phase transition (but still lack additional CP violation).
Article summary
In particle physics, the electroweak scale, also known as the Fermi scale, is the energy scale around 246 GeV, a typical energy of processes described by the electroweak theory. The particular number 246 GeV is taken to be the vacuum expectation value v = (G_F \sqrt{2})^{-1/2} of the Higgs field (where G_F is the Fermi coupling constant). In some cases the term electroweak scale is used to refer to the temperature of electroweak symmetry breaking, 159.5±1.5 GeV. In other cases, the term is used more loosely to refer to energies in a broad range around 10 2 - 10 3 GeV. This is within reach of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is designed for about 10 4 GeV in proton–proton collisions. Interactions may have been above this scale during the electroweak epoch. In the unextended Standard Model, the transition from the electroweak epoch was not a first or a second order phase transition but a continuous crossover, preventing any baryogenesis. However many extensions to the standard model including supersymmetry and the inert double model have a first order electroweak phase transition (but still lack additional CP violation).
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.