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The Eightfold Way categories which groups of particles?
The Eightfold Way categories refer to a classification scheme for subatomic particles proposed by physicists Murray Gell-Mann and Yuval Ne'eman in the 1960s. These categories group particles based on their properties, such as spin, charge, and mass.
The Eightfold Way categories include baryons, mesons, and leptons. Baryons are composite particles made of three quarks, while mesons are made of a quark and an antiquark. Leptons are fundamental particles that do not interact via the strong nuclear force.
The Eightfold Way is considered a precursor to the Standard Model of particle physics, as it provided a framework for understanding the relationships between different particles. The Standard Model expanded upon the Eightfold Way by incorporating the concept of quarks and the strong and weak nuclear forces.
The Eightfold Way categories helped physicists organize and understand the vast array of subatomic particles that had been discovered at the time. It also provided a foundation for the development of the Standard Model and our current understanding of particle physics.
Yes, since the development of the Eightfold Way, many new particles have been discovered that do not fit into the original categories. These include exotic particles like pentaquarks and tetraquarks, as well as particles predicted by the Standard Model, such as the Higgs boson.