Glossary · term

Symmetry breaking

Nuclear & Particle

Aliases
spontaneous symmetry breaking
Domain
Nuclear & Particle

Definition

A state that has less symmetry than the laws that produced it, like a pencil falling over. The Higgs field's doing it is what gives the W and Z their mass.

Open on the Glossary shelf — the interactive card, the filters, and everything alongside it.

From the Glossary database in Notion, last edited 2026-08-17. This page is the row, rendered by the build; nothing on it is written by hand.