= Higgs degree-of-freedom count
{c}
{title2=$4\times2+4=3\times3+2+1=12$}
In four spacetime dimensions a massless vector has two physical polarizations, while a <Proca field> has three. Before rearrangement, the electroweak sector has four vector fields and four real <Higgs doublet> components, hence twelve propagating <degrees of freedom>. In the broken description, <W bosons> of both charges and the <Z boson> contribute nine, the <photon> contributes two, and the radial <Higgs boson> contributes one. The three angular scalar components supply the three additional longitudinal polarizations. Gauge components and constraint variables are excluded from both counts. The <gluon> sector is unaffected.
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