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But wait. James Woodward says the Higgs is NOT the origin of mass.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/12/higgs-and-mach-effect.html
"We now know that at cosmic scale space is flat, so critical cosmic matter density obtains. That means that phi [the total scalar gravitational potential] equals c2. So, in Einstein's second law c2 can be replaced by phi, and now m * phi = E. It takes no genius to read this to say that E is the total gravitational potential energy -- and that the origin of E in SRT is due to the gravitational interaction. Since m arises from E (irrespective of whether E is due to zero or non-zero restmass stuff), the origin of mass is the gravitational interaction [not the Higgs process].
The Higgs is irrelevant to the Mach considerations. The Higgs is NOT the origin of mass-energy (as Wilczek has repeatedly pointed out). It is a process that confers RESTMASS on otherwise zero restmass particles. Those zero restmass particles, via m = E/c2, have mass if they have energy. The origin of mass is the question of the origin of mass-energy. Mach's principle does have something to say about that."
Permalink Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:36:29 UTC | #898571