Elementary Particles: Bosons & Fermions

In summary, there are 28 particles that have been discovered. There are also 36 if you include gluons. Some particles have different interactions depending on what boson and fermion they are interacting with.
  • #1
aman.yash
8
0
how many...

till now how many elementary particles are disovered?

what are bosons?

what happens when fermions interact with bosons?
 
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  • #3


malawi_glenn said:
1) google: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_particles (I got 28 when I counted, but there is 36 if you include gluons)
no offense but you counted wrong. Typically anti-particles and different types of the same particle (different color, different charge etc) are all counted as 1. There are 4 known bosons, 6 leptops, and 6 quarks = 16. There is also a few predicted particles that havnt been discovered yet (higgs, neutralino, etc.).

A boson is defined as a type of particle where multi-particle systems have a symmetric wave function. That is, if two bosons are exchanged the wave function stays exactly the same.

A fermion is defined as a type of particle where multi-particle systems have a anti-symmetric wave function. That is, if two fermions are exchanged the wave function gains a phase change of -1.

like glenn says, the interaction between a boson and a fermion depends on the specific particles interacting. For example:
neutrino (fermion) and a photon (boson) do not interact
but
electron (fermion) and a photon (boson) do.
 
  • #4


Well it is a difference between "a red upquark and a green upquark" and "an electron and a positron".

Same holds for the W+ / W- boson, it just depends on how you count.

Is the symmetry between antiparticles and particle exact? Well that is an open question at the moment... the symmetry between colours are belived to be exact.

No offence made, but even lectures at CERN gave us different numbers on the total number of different elementary particles beeing discovered.
 
  • #5


thank you for helping!
 

1. What are elementary particles?

Elementary particles are the smallest building blocks of matter that make up the universe. They cannot be broken down into smaller particles and are considered to be the fundamental units of matter.

2. What is the difference between bosons and fermions?

Bosons and fermions are two categories of elementary particles. Bosons have a whole number spin, while fermions have a half-integer spin. This difference determines their behavior and interactions with other particles.

3. How many types of bosons and fermions are there?

There are 12 known types of elementary particles, 4 of which are bosons (photon, W and Z bosons, and gluon) and 8 are fermions (quarks and leptons). These particles also have corresponding antiparticles with opposite charge.

4. What is the role of bosons and fermions in the Standard Model of particle physics?

The Standard Model is a theory that describes the interactions between elementary particles. Bosons are responsible for carrying the fundamental forces of nature (such as electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces), while fermions make up the matter particles that interact through these forces.

5. Can bosons and fermions be converted into each other?

No, bosons and fermions cannot be converted into each other. This is because they have different spin values and follow different rules of quantum mechanics. However, during some high-energy particle interactions, bosons and fermions can briefly appear and then annihilate each other.

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