About the role of scalars in a gauge theory

Abstract

We consider a new effective symmetry that acts on a gauge invariant Lagrangian. We show that the standard model after spontaneous symmetry breakdown is invariant under this symmetry which identifies up to a scale factor the gauge parameter with the elementary or composite scalars in the theory. We discuss some of the consequences of this symmetry in the abelian and non-abelian sectors of the standard model.