I. Introduction: From Abstract Symmetry to Physical Coherence
In the Standard Model, the unification of electromagnetic and weak interactions is represented by the abstract gauge symmetry group ( SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y ).
This formalism—while mathematically consistent—offers no tangible physical picture of why such a symmetry exists, what the coupling represents physically, or how mass and chirality emerge from it.
In Natural Quantum Theory (NQT), the electroweak unification is not viewed as the superposition of two arbitrary gauge symmetries, but as the physical coupling of two coherent field structures:
The phase-coherent field corresponding to electromagnetic oscillations; and
The polarization-coherent field corresponding to weak interaction modes.
This approach restores the geometrical and dynamical reality that the gauge-theoretic formulation has abstracted away.
In NQT, the unification of forces becomes a coherence problem—not a group-theoretic one.
II. Electromagnetic Interaction: Phase-Coherent Rotation Fields
The electromagnetic field represents the local coherence of phase in oscillatory charge distributions.
In traditional notation, the local phase transformation
[
\psi(x) \rightarrow e^{i\alpha(x)} \psi(x)
]
corresponds, in NQT, to a real rotation of the local oscillation phase of an extended charge density.
The vector potential (A_\mu) is not a mere mathematical gauge connection but a record of the spatial variation of phase coherence.
Its field tensor (F_{\mu\nu}) expresses the real rotation and circulation of the field energy in spacetime.
Thus:
Electric phenomena correspond to phase gradients;
Magnetic phenomena correspond to circulating phase rotations;
Electromagnetic radiation is a propagating phase-coherence wave.
Electromagnetism, in this picture, is the field-level stabilization of local phase continuity.
III. Weak Interaction: Polarization-Coherent Coupling
In contrast, the weak interaction reflects the coherence of field polarization, i.e., the internal directionality or handedness of the oscillatory motion within a particle’s structure.
This property manifests as chirality.
While electromagnetism regulates the phase alignment of oscillations, the weak interaction regulates their polarization stability—the orientation of intrinsic rotation relative to propagation.
In NQT terms:
The weak interaction acts on the polarization vector of the field;
It represents the coupling between different internal rotational modes of the same extended field entity.
This interpretation naturally explains:
The left-handed selectivity of weak interactions (as a polarization asymmetry);
Their short range (as a coherence-loss effect at higher internal energy scales).
IV. Electroweak Coupling: The Coherence of Phase and Polarization
When both types of coherence—phase and polarization—coexist in the same field, their coupling generates a compound rotational structure.
This is the real physical origin of the formal (SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y) symmetry.
Mathematically:
(U(1)) corresponds to phase coherence;
(SU(2)) corresponds to polarization coherence.
Physically:
The photon field (A_\mu) represents a purely phase-coherent mode (complete phase alignment);
The weak bosons (W^\pm, Z^0) represent mixed phase–polarization modes, where coherence between these components is partially broken.
Thus, the electroweak coupling is not a "mixing of fields," but a geometric fusion of two coherence channels:
[
\text{Electroweak coupling} = (\text{Phase coherence}) \otimes (\text{Polarization coherence})
]
V. The Natural Origin of Mass: Energy Stored in Coherence Imbalance
In the Standard Model, the Higgs mechanism endows (W) and (Z) bosons with mass through spontaneous symmetry breaking.
In NQT, this “symmetry breaking” has a physical cause: the loss of full coherence between the phase and polarization fields.
When phase and polarization no longer oscillate in perfect synchrony, a portion of field energy becomes locally trapped rather than radiatively free.
This trapped energy manifests as rest mass.
Hence:
The photon remains massless because its phase and polarization are perfectly coherent.
The (W^\pm) and (Z^0) bosons gain mass because their coherence is incomplete—they represent partially constrained oscillation modes.
This reinterpretation provides a natural physical basis for mass generation without invoking an ad hoc scalar field.
VI. Gauge Transformations as Real Rotations
In the NQT framework, a “gauge transformation” is not an abstract group operation but a real rotation of the local field vector in phase–polarization space.
The "mystical" gauge symmetry thus reduces to an ordinary geometrical statement:
A gauge transformation is a rotation of the field’s coherence orientation.
This demystifies the entire notion of gauge freedom: it is simply the freedom to redefine the local orientation of the coherent oscillation without changing the physical field energy.
VII. Summary: Reconstructing the Physical Image of Electroweak Unification
| Concept | Standard Model | Natural Quantum Theory |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematical basis | SU(2)×U(1) symmetry | Coupling of phase and polarization coherence |
| Gauge fields | Abstract group connections | Physical mediators of coherent rotation |
| Higgs mechanism | External scalar field | Internal coherence imbalance |
| Weak chirality | Left-hand symmetry | Polarization asymmetry of field structure |
| Photon masslessness | Residual symmetry | Full phase–polarization coherence |
| (W/Z) mass | Spontaneous breaking | Partial coherence trapping |
Thus, electroweak unification in NQT is not a mathematical coincidence but a natural resonance phenomenon between two intrinsic oscillatory degrees of freedom of the same physical field.
VIII. Conclusion: From Symmetry to Structure
Natural Quantum Theory replaces the abstract group-theoretic view with a realistic field-structural interpretation:
Phase coherence ↔ electromagnetism
Polarization coherence ↔ weak interaction
Their coupling ↔ electroweak unification
This picture is conceptually transparent, physically causal, and experimentally consistent.
It allows us to see that mass, charge, and spin are not arbitrary parameters but manifestations of how coherence is organized within a real field.
In this sense, the “electroweak theory” is not a unification of two forces, but a revelation that they are two aspects of the same coherent structure of nature.