"The study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation."
A subfield that studies the behavior and interactions of subatomic particles.
Fundamental Particles: Introduction to elementary particles such as leptons, quarks, and gauge bosons.
Standard Model: An overview of the current theory that explains the properties of elementary particles and their interactions through three of the four fundamental forces.
Symmetry: Study of the ways in which the properties of particles remain the same under certain transformations.
Quantum Field Theory: Theoretical framework for the study of particles that combines the principles of quantum mechanics and special relativity.
Relativistic Kinematics: Study of the physical laws that describe the behavior of particles moving at high speeds.
Particle Detectors: Tools used to detect and measure particles produced in particle accelerators and cosmic rays.
Accelerators: Large machines used to accelerate particles to high energies for the purpose of research.
Cosmic Rays: High-energy particles that originate outside the solar system and constantly bombard the Earth's atmosphere.
Beyond the Standard Model: Theories that go beyond the Standard Model and attempt to explain the nature of dark matter, neutrino masses, and other phenomena that cannot be accounted for in the current theory.
"The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) and bosons (force-carrying particles)."
"There are three generations of fermions."
"Ordinary matter is made only from the first fermion generation."
"Hadrons that contain an odd number of quarks are called baryons and those that contain an even number are called mesons."
"The proton and the neutron make up most of the mass of ordinary matter."
"The longest-lived mesons last for only a few hundredths of a microsecond."
"Mesons are produced in cyclotrons or other particle accelerators."
"Particles have corresponding antiparticles with the same mass but with opposite electric charges."
"These antiparticles can theoretically form a corresponding form of matter called antimatter."
"Some particles, such as the photon, are their own antiparticle."
"The dominant theory explaining these fundamental particles and fields, along with their dynamics, is called the Standard Model."
"The reconciliation of gravity to the current particle physics theory is not solved."
"Many theories have addressed this problem, such as loop quantum gravity, string theory, and supersymmetry theory."
"Practical particle physics is the study of these particles in radioactive processes and in particle accelerators."
"Theoretical particle physics is the study of these particles in the context of cosmology and quantum theory."
"The two are closely interrelated."
"The Higgs boson was postulated by theoretical particle physicists and its presence confirmed by practical experiments."
"Particle physics experiments are conducted at the Large Hadron Collider."
"These elementary particles are excitations of the quantum fields that also govern their interactions."