Self-interaction and mass in quantum field theory

Qualitative implications of electroweak theory are reconsidered on the assumption that the unique source of fermion rest mass is self-interaction via coupling to gauge fields. This implies small but nonzero mass for neutrinos, and suggests that successive fermion generations are distinct coupled-field eigenstates of a self-interaction mass operator. For a scalar Higgs field, this mechanism can account for the SU(2) symmetry breaking of electroweak theory without a biquadratic self-interaction. The implied Higgs particle mass could be very small, eluding any search limited to heavy particles.