Unveiling the Higgs mechanism to students

In this paper we outline a lecture given to undergraduate students to explain why physicists are so interested in the Higgs boson. The lecture was conceived for students not yet familiar with advanced physics and is suitable for those studying several other disciplines. The Higgs mechanism is introduced through semi-classical arguments mimicking basic field-theory concepts, assuming the validity of a symmetry principle in the expression of the energy of particles in a classical field. The lecture is divided into two parts. The first, suitable even for high-school students, shows how the mass of a particle results from a dynamical effect caused by interaction between a massless particle and a field (as in the Higgs mechanism). The audience for the second, much more technical part consists mainly of teachers and university students from disciplines other than physics. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.