This article is cited in 12 papers

ORAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL "USPEKHI FIZICHESKIKH NAUK"

60 years of broken symmetries in quantum physics (from the Bogoliubov theory of superfluidity to the Standard Model)

D. V. Shirkov

Joint Institute for Nuclear Research

Abstract: This is a retrospective historical review of the ideas that led to the concept of the spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB), the issue that has been implemented in quantum field theory in the form of the Higgs mechanism. The key stages covered include: the Bogoliubov microscopic theory of superfluidity (1946); the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer–Bogoliubov microscopic theory of superconductivity (1957); superconductivity as superfluidity of Cooper pairs (Bogoliubov, 1958); the extension of the SSB concept to simple quantum field models (early 1960s); triumph of the Higgs model in electroweak theory (early 1980s). The role and status of the Higgs mechanism in the current Standard Model are discussed.

PACS: 01.65.+g, 11.30.Qc, 12.15.-y

Received: February 4, 2009

DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0179.200906d.0581

 English version: Physics–Uspekhi, 2009, 52:6, 549–557

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