Particle physics dives into the tiniest building blocks of our universe. From quarks to leptons, these fundamental particles form everything we see. They interact through four forces, each with its own unique properties and mediating particles.
Understanding these particles and forces is key to grasping the Standard Model. This framework explains how the universe works at its most basic level, from the atoms in your body to the stars in the sky.
Particle Types
Fermions and Bosons: Building Blocks of Matter
- Fermions constitute matter particles with half-integer spin values (1/2, 3/2, etc.)
- Fermions obey Pauli exclusion principle prevents two identical fermions from occupying the same quantum state
- Bosons serve as force-carrying particles with integer spin values (0, 1, 2, etc.)
- Bosons do not follow Pauli exclusion principle allows multiple bosons to occupy the same quantum state
- Elementary particles represent fundamental, indivisible units of matter or energy
- Elementary fermions include quarks and leptons form the basic constituents of matter
- Elementary bosons comprise force carriers mediate interactions between particles
Composite Particles: Hadrons and Their Subtypes
- Hadrons consist of composite particles made up of quarks bound by the strong force
- Hadrons subdivide into two main categories baryons and mesons
- Baryons contain three quarks or three antiquarks (protons, neutrons)
- Protons composed of two up quarks and one down quark (uud)
- Neutrons made up of one up quark and two down quarks (udd)
- Mesons consist of one quark and one antiquark pair (pions, kaons)
- Pions include combinations like up quark and anti-down quark (ud̄)
- Kaons contain strange quark and anti-up quark (sū)
Fundamental Forces
Strong and Weak Nuclear Forces
- Strong force binds quarks together within hadrons and nucleons within atomic nuclei
- Strong force operates at extremely short ranges approximately 10−15 meters
- Strong force mediated by gluons exchange between quarks
- Weak force responsible for certain types of radioactive decay and neutrino interactions
- Weak force operates at even shorter ranges than the strong force about 10−18 meters
- Weak force mediated by W and Z bosons facilitates flavor-changing processes in quarks and leptons
Electromagnetic and Gravitational Forces
- Electromagnetic force acts between electrically charged particles attracts opposite charges and repels like charges
- Electromagnetic force has infinite range strength decreases with distance according to inverse square law
- Electromagnetic force mediated by photons exchange between charged particles
- Gravitational force attracts all particles with mass or energy to each other
- Gravitational force has infinite range weakest of the four fundamental forces
- Gravitational force theoretically mediated by gravitons yet to be experimentally observed
- Gravitational force described by Einstein's theory of general relativity explains curvature of spacetime