Finding anything smaller than quarks or what quarks are made of?

[fedorfan]

Are we even near finding anything smaller than quarks or what quarks are made of?

 

[mathman]

At the present time quarks are considered "fundamental", ie. the smallest quarks (up and down) don't decay into anything else, although they do transform into each other.

Smaller than quarks are various leptons, such as electrons and neutrinoes.

 

[fedorfan]

Whats the smallest out of those(leptons, neutrinoes, and electrons)? Or are they too small to compare?

 

[jtbell]

In terms of spatial size, the quarks and leptons are all considered to be pointlike particles in the Standard Model, so one can't say that any of them is the "smallest."

In terms of mass, the neutrinos are the "smallest" of the leptons, followed in order by electrons, muons and taus.

 

[fedorfan]

I know there's something that is smallest because it would eventually be nothing if there wasnt a limit. Unless negative mass is what I think it is, then there would be no limit to how small something could get. Is negative mass what I am thinking it is? Please explain negative mass.

 

[fedorfan]

I thought negative mass actually meant like twice as small than positive mass, sorry yall. So neutrinoes, quarks, and the like are the smallest, thanks yall.

 

[fedorfan]

I just read that preons are sub quark particles. Is this true, are preons smaller than quarks?

 

[mathman]

Preons are hypothetical particles which would be constituents of quarks and leptons. However there is no experimental evidence to support the theory. You can get a detailed history of the this theory from wikipedia.

 

[fedorfan]

I just read that microtalentons are smaller than neutrinoes, is this true? What the heck are microtalentons?

 

[CarlB]

I just read that microtalentons are smaller than neutrinoes, is this true? What the heck are microtalentons?

Ha ha ha, you made me look.

Carl