Lesson plan
Weak hypercharge
In the Standard Model of electroweak interactions of particle physics, the weak hypercharge is a quantum number relating the electric charge and the third component of weak isospin. It is frequently denoted Y_\mathsf{W} and corresponds to the gauge symmetry U(1). It is conserved (only terms that are overall weak-hypercharge neutral are allowed in the Lagrangian). However, one of the interactions is with the Higgs field. Since the Higgs field vacuum expectation value is nonzero, particles interact with this field all the time even in vacuum. This changes their weak hypercharge (and weak isospin ). Only a specific combination of them, \ Q = T_3 + \tfrac{1}{2}\, Y_\mathsf{W}\ (electric charge), is conserved. Mathematically, weak hypercharge appears similar to the Gell-Mann–Nishijima formula for the hypercharge of strong interactions (which is not conserved in weak interactions and is zero for leptons). In the electroweak theory SU(2) transformations commute with U(1) transformations by definition and therefore U(1) charges for the elements of the SU(2) doublet (for example lefthanded up and down quarks) have to be equal. This is why U(1) cannot be identified with U(1) em and weak hypercharge has to be introduced. Weak hypercharge was first introduced by Sheldon Glashow in 1961.
Article summary
In the Standard Model of electroweak interactions of particle physics, the weak hypercharge is a quantum number relating the electric charge and the third component of weak isospin. It is frequently denoted Y_\mathsf{W} and corresponds to the gauge symmetry U(1). It is conserved (only terms that are overall weak-hypercharge neutral are allowed in the Lagrangian). However, one of the interactions is with the Higgs field. Since the Higgs field vacuum expectation value is nonzero, particles interact with this field all the time even in vacuum. This changes their weak hypercharge (and weak isospin ). Only a specific combination of them, \ Q = T_3 + \tfrac{1}{2}\, Y_\mathsf{W}\ (electric charge), is conserved. Mathematically, weak hypercharge appears similar to the Gell-Mann–Nishijima formula for the hypercharge of strong interactions (which is not conserved in weak interactions and is zero for leptons). In the electroweak theory SU(2) transformations commute with U(1) transformations by definition and therefore U(1) charges for the elements of the SU(2) doublet (for example lefthanded up and down quarks) have to be equal. This is why U(1) cannot be identified with U(1) em and weak hypercharge has to be introduced. Weak hypercharge was first introduced by Sheldon Glashow in 1961.
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.