"The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying all known elementary particles."
An overview of the current theory that explains the properties of elementary particles and their interactions through three of the four fundamental forces.
Quantum Mechanics: It is a fundamental theory in physics that explains the behavior of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic levels.
Special Relativity: It is a theory of space and time that explains the behavior of objects in motion relative to one another.
Elementary Particles: These are the fundamental building blocks of matter that are described by the Standard Model. They include quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons.
Particle Interactions: The Standard Model describes the interactions between elementary particles, which are mediated by the exchange of gauge bosons.
Strong Force: It is the force that holds quarks together to form protons and neutrons.
Weak Force: It is responsible for the decay of some particles and the formation of others.
Electromagnetic Force: It is the force that governs the behavior of charged particles.
Higgs Field: It is a field that permeates all space and gives mass to elementary particles.
Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking: The Standard Model is based on the idea of symmetry, which describes the relationship between particles and the laws of physics. Symmetry breaking is the process by which a symmetric system becomes asymmetric.
Unification of Forces: The Grand Unified Theory (GUT) seeks to unite the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces into a single force.
Neutrino Oscillations: Neutrinos are elementary particles that travel almost at the speed of light and have very little mass. They can change between different types, or flavors, as they travel.
Dark Matter: It is a hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other forms of electromagnetic radiation, but can be detected through its gravitational effects.
Beyond the Standard Model: The Standard Model is an incomplete theory that does not include gravity or explain dark matter. Many theories have been proposed to extend the Standard Model, including supersymmetry and extra dimensions.
Quarks: These are six types of fundamental particles that make up protons and neutrons. They come in flavors: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom.
Leptons: These are six types of fundamental particles that do not interact through the strong nuclear force. Electrons, muons, and taus, along with their associated neutrinos, are the leptons.
Gauge bosons: These particles are responsible for transmitting fundamental forces in nature. These include the photon (electromagnetic), W and Z bosons (weak nuclear force), and gluons (strong nuclear force).
Higgs boson: This particle is responsible for giving mass to other particles in the Standard Model.
"It was developed in stages throughout the latter half of the 20th century, through the work of many scientists worldwide, with the current formulation being finalized in the mid-1970s upon experimental confirmation of the existence of quarks."
"Since then, proof of the top quark (1995), the tau neutrino (2000), and the Higgs boson (2012) have added further credence to the Standard Model."
"The Standard Model has predicted various properties of weak neutral currents and the W and Z bosons with great accuracy."
"It leaves some physical phenomena unexplained and so falls short of being a complete theory of fundamental interactions." - "For example, it does not fully explain baryon asymmetry, incorporate the full theory of gravitation as described by general relativity, or account for the universe's accelerating expansion as possibly described by dark energy." - "The model does not contain any viable dark matter particle that possesses all of the required properties deduced from observational cosmology." - "It also does not incorporate neutrino oscillations and their non-zero masses."
"The development of the Standard Model was driven by theoretical and experimental particle physicists alike."
"The Standard Model is a paradigm of a quantum field theory for theorists, exhibiting a wide range of phenomena, including spontaneous symmetry breaking, anomalies, and non-perturbative behavior."
"It is used as a basis for building more exotic models that incorporate hypothetical particles, extra dimensions, and elaborate symmetries (such as supersymmetry) to explain experimental results at variance with the Standard Model, such as the existence of dark matter and neutrino oscillations."