Re: how many "forces" (or better, interactions)?

[DSCHROEDER@cc.weber.edu]

> Sixty three years ago we had the Fermi theory of beta decay,
> a model for a natural phenomenon. By fifty years ago there
> was already much confirmatory evidence regarding the weak
> interaction. What is the natural phenomenon that is explained
> by the Higgs interaction?

The Higgs interaction is accurately modeled for low-energy
phenomena by the Yukawa interaction terms in the standard-model
Lagrangian.  These terms give the quarks and leptons their
masses, and most of these masses (hence the Yukawa coupling
constants) are known fairly accurately.  What we don't know
is what happens at higher energies; at least one new species
of physical particle seems to be required....

-dan