Nesta contribuição, apresentamos um tema avançado de grande relevância na Física: a quebra espontânea de simetria – fundamental para o chamado Mecanismo de Higgs – numa abordagem adequada ao ensino médio. O modelo matemático da quebra de simetria é abordado a partir da analogia entre os osciladores harmônico simples e anarmônico. Na sequência, discutimos como a massa física do bóson de Higgs surge a partir da oscilação da coordenada oscilatória de Higgs, aqui desempenhando o papel do campo de Higgs. Também propomos o uso de simulação computacional, utilizando o software Modellus , para estudar a energia dos osciladores. O objetivo de propor a simulação é tornar a aprendizagem mais eficiente e aumentar o protagonismo do aluno.

This contribution sets out to present an advanced topic of major relevance in Physics: the spontaneous symmetry breaking, a crucial issue for the Higgs Mechanism, in a suitable approach for the high school level. The mathematical model of symmetry breaking is approached by exploiting the analogy between the simple harmonic and anharmonic oscillators. Next, we discuss how the Higgs boson’s physical mass arises from the oscillation of the Higgs oscillatory coordinate, here playing the role of the Higgs field. We also propose the use of a computer simulation, with the Modellus software , to compute the energy of the oscillators. The purpose of carrying out simulation is to render the learning process more efficient and to increase the action of the student.

We present a simple and general method to solve higher-power D'Alembert equation in (1+1) dimensions for a set of completely general initial conditions. Explicit solutions are written down for the cases of []² and []³ and the singularity structure is manifest through the derivative terms of some of the initial-condition functions. The explicit solutions found out may be useful if one wishes to device external sources which may suppress the non-physical modes introduced by the higher derivatives.