English

Unitary gauge considered harmful

General Physics 2009-01-14 v4 Astrophysics

Abstract

I informally review the Higgs mechanism, focusing on fundamental aspects which should be common knowledge but apparently are not, explain why your understanding of gauge symmetry breaking is a decreasing function of your reliance on the unitary gauge, and discuss some implications for cosmology (domains, dark energy, CMB cold spot).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0804.2284,
  title  = {Unitary gauge considered harmful},
  author = {Tommy Anderberg},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0804.2284},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

21 pages, no figures. v2: Fixed typos. v3: Added ref. URLs, minor fixes. v4: Added section, appendix, comments, references, acknowledgment

R2 v1 2026-06-21T10:30:49.598Z