The Dual Higgs Mechanism and the Origin of Mass in the Universe

The idea that a background of invisible material pervades the whole universe is as old as the history of natural philosophy. Modern particle physics and cosmology support that idea and identify in the cosmic vacuum the ultimate source of matter-energy, both seen and unseen, in the universe. In the framework of the inflation-axion scenario, we suggest an unusual realization of the Higgs mechanism which converts the latent energy of the vacuum into observable mass. The existence of a new spontaneously broken symmetry is pointed out which has the same effect of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry in creating axions as pseudo-Goldstone bosons. However such particles are eliminated from the physical spectrum in favor of massive pseudoscalar particles.