  We investigate whether a mass scale for elementary particles can be derived
from interactions of particles with distant matter in the Universe, the
mechanism of the interaction being the classical vector potential, propagating
in a space of negative curvature. A possible context for such a mass scale is
conformal gravity. This theory may prove to be renormalizable, since all
coupling constants are dimensionless; conversely, however, there is no coupling
constant analogous to the conventional G to provide a starting point for a mass
scale calculation. We obtain the equations for propagation of the vector
potential of a charged particle moving in a plasma in a curved space. We then
show that distant matter will contribute to A**2, and that this non-thermal
part will eventually dominate the ordinary thermal part. At this point a
symmetry breaking transition of the Coleman-Weinberg type is possible, and
particle masses can be generated with m**2 of order A**2.
