Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism for accelerating observers

Abstract

In this work we consider the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the electroweak SU(2)_(L) × U(1)_(Y) gauge group into U(1)_(em) taking place in the Standard Model of particle physics as seen from the point of view of an accelerating observer. According to the Unruh effect, that observer detects the Minkowski vacuum as a thermal bath at a temperature proportional to the proper acceleration a. Then we show that (in a certain large N limit) when the acceleration is bigger than the critical value a_(c) = 4πv (where v is the Higgs vacuum expectation value), the electroweak SU(2)L × U(1)_(Y) gauge symmetry is restored and all elementary particles become massless. In addition, even observers with a ˂ a_(c) can see this symmetry restoration in the region close to the Rindler horizon.