Elementary particle: Difference between revisions
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A '''elementary particle''' is one that has no internal structure; that is, both theoretically and experimentally there are no constituent particles that combine to make it up. It has proven true historically that particles considered "elementary" in one epoch, the [[atom]] for example, are later found to be composite.<ref name=Veltman/> Another example is the [[meson]]s, once thought to be the elementary quanta whose exchange between [[neutron]]s and [[proton]]s embodied the [[nuclear force]], but now considered to be made up of [[quark]]s. | A '''elementary particle''' is one that has no internal structure; that is, both theoretically and experimentally there are no constituent particles that combine to make it up. It has proven true historically that particles considered "elementary" in one epoch, the [[atom]] for example, are later found to be composite.<ref name=Veltman/> Another example is the set of [[meson]]s, once thought to be the elementary quanta whose exchange between [[neutron]]s and [[proton]]s embodied the [[nuclear force]], but now considered to be made up of [[quark]]s. | ||
In the [[Standard Model]] elementary particles fall into different groups: the group of "particles" themselves, which fall under the classifications of [[lepton]]s and [[quark]]s, and the particles that mediate the interactions between them, the force carriers or field ''quanta'', that fall under the categories of [[photon]]s, [[weak boson]]s, and [[gluon]]s. | In the [[Standard Model]] elementary particles fall into different groups: the group of "particles" themselves, which fall under the classifications of [[lepton]]s and [[quark]]s, and the particles that mediate the interactions between them, the force carriers or field ''quanta'', that fall under the categories of [[photon]]s, [[weak boson]]s, and [[gluon]]s. | ||
Latest revision as of 09:03, 9 July 2012
A elementary particle is one that has no internal structure; that is, both theoretically and experimentally there are no constituent particles that combine to make it up. It has proven true historically that particles considered "elementary" in one epoch, the atom for example, are later found to be composite.[1] Another example is the set of mesons, once thought to be the elementary quanta whose exchange between neutrons and protons embodied the nuclear force, but now considered to be made up of quarks.
In the Standard Model elementary particles fall into different groups: the group of "particles" themselves, which fall under the classifications of leptons and quarks, and the particles that mediate the interactions between them, the force carriers or field quanta, that fall under the categories of photons, weak bosons, and gluons.
References
- ↑ Martinus Veltman (2003). Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics. World Scientific, p. 13. ISBN 981238149X.