The equation for the Higgs potential is as follows:

This produces the distinctive "Mexican hat" shape as can be seen below which gives the potential its name. Neither of the two constants in the equation, μ and λ are directly measurable, therefore we have to use two other quantities, vacuum expectation value and the mass of the Higgs boson to derive the values for μ and λ

The vacuum expectation value is the minimum value of the Higgs potential field, it can be determined using the mass of the W boson, experimentally it has been shown to have a value of 246 GeV. It relates to the constants in the equation for the Higgs potential using the relation below:

The mass of the Higgs boson M_H has been experimentally found to be 125.18 GeV. It can be related to the constants in the equation using the following relation:

μ² = -7938
λ = 0.13

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