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{{Short description|Branch of physics concerning the nature of particles}} {{Short description|Branch of physics concerning the nature of particles}}
{{other uses of|particle|Particle (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=September 2016}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
] of particle physics, listing all ]s]]'''Particle physics''' (also known as '''high energy physics''') is a branch of ] that studies the nature of the particles that constitute ] and ]. Although the word '']'' can refer to various types of very small objects (e.g. ], gas particles, or even household dust), {{em|particle physics}} usually investigates the irreducibly smallest detectable particles and the ]s necessary to explain their behaviour.
{{Distinguish|Nuclear physics}}


In current understanding, these ]s are excitations of the ] that also govern their interactions. The currently dominant theory explaining these fundamental particles and fields, along with their dynamics, is called the ]. Thus, modern particle physics generally investigates the Standard Model and its various possible extensions, e.g. to the newest "known" particle, the ], or even to the oldest known force field, ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.web.cern.ch/topics/higgs-boson|title=The Higgs Boson |publisher=CERN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2013/advanced-physicsprize2013.pdf | title=The BEH-Mechanism, Interactions with Short Range Forces and Scalar Particles | date=8 October 2013}}</ref>
]s deflected by a magnetic field into a circle, ionizing the gas inside to fluoresce a purple ring]]


==Subatomic particles==
'''Particle physics''' (also known as '''high energy physics''') is a branch of ] that studies the nature of the particles that constitute ] and ]. Although the word '']'' can refer to various types of very small objects (e.g. ], gas particles, or even household dust), {{em|particle physics}} usually investigates the irreducibly smallest detectable particles and the ]s necessary to explain their behaviour.
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right:1em; background:#FFF;"
|+ Elementary Particles
|-
!
! scope="col" | ]
! scope="col" | ]
! scope="col" | ]
! scope="col" | ]
! scope="col" | Total
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#DAF;" | ]s
| rowspan="2" align="center"| 2
| rowspan="2" align="center"| 3
| align="center"|Pair
| align="center"|3
| align="center"|36
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#AF7;" | ]s
| align="center"|Pair
| align="center"|None
| align="center"|12
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#F97;" | ]s
|rowspan="5" align="center"|1
|rowspan="5" align="center"|None
| align="center"|Own
| align="center"|]
| align="center"|8
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#F97;" | ]
| align="center"|Own
| align="center" rowspan="4"|None
| align="center"|1
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#F97;" | ]
| align="center"|Own
| align="center"|1
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#F97;" | ]
| align="center"|Pair
| align="center"|2
|-
! scope="row" style="background:#FE7;" | ]
| align="center"|Own
| align="center"|1
|-
! colspan="5" align="right" ! scope="col" | Total number of (known) elementary particles:
| align="center"|'''61'''
|}
Modern particle physics research is focused on ]s, including atomic constituents, such as ]s, ]s, and ]s (protons and neutrons are composite particles called ]s, made of ]s), that are produced by ] and ] processes; such particles are ]s, ]s, and ]s, as well as a wide range of ]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Terranova |first1=Francesco |title=A Modern Primer in Particle and Nuclear Physics. |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-284524-5}}</ref>


Dynamics of particles are also governed by ]; they exhibit ], displaying particle-like behaviour under certain experimental conditions and ]-like behaviour in others. In more technical terms, they are described by ] vectors in a ], which is also treated in ]. Following the convention of particle physicists, the term '']s'' is applied to those particles that are, according to current understanding, presumed to be indivisible and not composed of other particles.<ref name="braibant"/>
In current understanding, these ]s are excitations of the ] that also govern their interactions. The currently dominant theory explaining these fundamental particles and fields, along with their dynamics, is called the ]. Thus, modern particle physics generally investigates the Standard Model and its various possible extensions, e.g. to the newest "known" particle, the ], or even to the oldest known force field, ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.web.cern.ch/topics/higgs-boson|title=The Higgs Boson|publisher=CERN|access-date=24 August 2014|archive-date=21 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821222159/http://home.web.cern.ch/topics/higgs-boson|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2013/advanced-physicsprize2013.pdf | title=The BEH-Mechanism, Interactions with Short Range Forces and Scalar Particles | date=8 October 2013 | access-date=14 June 2017 | archive-date=30 June 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630190424/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2013/advanced-physicsprize2013.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>

All particles and their interactions observed to date can be described almost entirely by a quantum field theory called the ].<ref name="ifj">{{cite web|title=Particle Physics and Astrophysics Research|url=http://www.ifj.edu.pl/pro/fiz_astro.php?lang=en|publisher=The Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics|access-date=31 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002173825/http://www.ifj.edu.pl/pro/fiz_astro.php?lang=en|archive-date=2 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Standard Model, as currently formulated, has 61 elementary particles.<ref name="braibant">
{{cite book
|last1=Braibant |first1=S.
|last2=Giacomelli |first2=G.
|last3=Spurio |first3=M.
|year=2009
|title=Particles and Fundamental Interactions: An Introduction to Particle Physics
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Pp-f0G9_9sC&q=61+fundamental+particles&pg=PA314
|pages=313–314
|publisher=]
|isbn=978-94-007-2463-1
}}</ref>
Those elementary particles can combine to form composite particles, accounting for the hundreds of other species of particles that have been discovered since the 1960s.

The Standard Model has been found to agree with almost all the ]al tests conducted to date. However, most particle physicists believe that it is an incomplete description of nature and that a more fundamental theory awaits discovery (See ]). In recent years, measurements of ] ] have provided the first experimental deviations from the Standard Model, since neutrinos are massless in the Standard Model.<ref>{{cite web|title=Neutrinos in the Standard Model|url=https://t2k-experiment.org/neutrinos/in-the-standard-model|publisher=The T2K Collaboration|access-date=15 October 2019}}</ref>


==History== ==History==
{{Modern physics}}
{{main|History of subatomic physics}} {{main|History of subatomic physics}}
The idea that all ] is fundamentally composed of ]s dates from at least the 6th century BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://novelresearchinstitute.org/library/PhysNuclphys196p.pdf |title=Fundamentals of Physics and Nuclear Physics |access-date=21 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002214053/http://novelresearchinstitute.org/library/PhysNuclphys196p.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2012}}</ref> In the 19th century, ], through his work on ], concluded that each element of nature was composed of a single, unique type of particle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sciexplorer.blogspot.com/2012/05/quasiparticles.html |title=Scientific Explorer: Quasiparticles |publisher=Sciexplorer.blogspot.com |date=22 May 2012 |access-date=21 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419032637/http://sciexplorer.blogspot.com/2012/05/quasiparticles.html |archive-date=19 April 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The word '']'', after the Greek word '']'' meaning "indivisible", has since then denoted the smallest particle of a ], but physicists soon discovered that atoms are not, in fact, the fundamental particles of nature, but are conglomerates of even smaller particles, such as the ]. The early 20th century explorations of ] and ] led to proofs of ] in 1939 by ] (based on experiments by ]), and ] by ] in that same year; both discoveries also led to the development of ]s. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a bewildering variety of particles were found in collisions of particles from beams of increasingly high energy. It was referred to informally as the "]". Important discoveries such as the ] by ] and ] brought new questions to ].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Antimatter|url=https://home.cern/science/physics/antimatter|date=2021-03-01}}</ref> After the formulation of the Standard Model during the 1970s, physicists clarified the origin of the particle zoo. The large number of particles was explained as combinations of a (relatively) small number of more fundamental particles and framed in the context of ]. This reclassification marked the beginning of modern particle physics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weinberg |first1=Steven |title=The quantum theory of fields |date=1995–2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521670531}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jaeger|first=Gregg|date=2021|title=The Elementary Particles of Quantum Fields|journal=Entropy|volume=23|issue=11|pages=1416|doi=10.3390/e23111416|pmid=34828114|pmc=8623095|bibcode=2021Entrp..23.1416J|doi-access=free}}</ref>


==Standard Model==
=== Early developments ===
{{See also|Atomic theory}}

=== Quantum mechanics ===

=== Standard Model ===
{{Main|Standard Model}} {{Main|Standard Model}}
The current state of the classification of all elementary particles is explained by the ], which gained widespread acceptance in the mid-1970s after ] of the existence of ]s. It describes the ], ], and ] ]s, using mediating ]s. The species of gauge bosons are eight ]s, ], and the ].<ref name=ifj /> The Standard Model also contains 24 ] ]s (12 particles and their associated anti-particles), which are the constituents of all ].<ref name=pdg>{{cite journal|last=Nakamura|first=K|title=Review of Particle Physics|journal=Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics|date=1 July 2010|volume=37|issue=7A|page=075021|doi=10.1088/0954-3899/37/7A/075021|pmid=10020536|bibcode = 2010JPhG...37g5021N |doi-access=free}}</ref> Finally, the Standard Model also predicted the existence of a type of ] known as the ]. On 4 July 2012, physicists with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN announced they had found a new particle that behaves similarly to what is expected from the Higgs boson.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mann |first=Adam |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/higgs-boson-discovery/ |title=Newly Discovered Particle Appears to Be Long-Awaited Higgs Boson |journal=Wired Science |date=28 March 2013 |access-date=6 February 2014}}</ref>


==Experimental laboratories==
==Subatomic particles==
]
{{Main|Subatomic particle|List of particles}}
The world's major particle physics laboratories are:
* ] (], ]). Its main facility is the ] (RHIC), which collides ] such as gold ions and polarized protons. It is the world's first heavy ion collider, and the world's only polarized proton collider.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Harrison|first1=M.|last2=Ludlam|first2=T.|last3=Ozaki|first3=S.|date=March 2003|title=RHIC project overview|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1259915 |journal=Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment|volume=499|issue=2–3|pages=235–244|doi=10.1016/S0168-9002(02)01937-X|bibcode=2003NIMPA.499..235H}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Courant|first=Ernest D.|title=Accelerators, Colliders, and Snakes|date=December 2003|journal=]|volume=53|issue=1|pages=1–37|doi=10.1146/annurev.nucl.53.041002.110450|bibcode=2003ARNPS..53....1C|issn=0163-8998|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* ] (], ]). Its main projects are now the electron-positron ]s ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vepp2k.inp.nsk.su/ |title=index |publisher=Vepp2k.inp.nsk.su |access-date=21 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029223656/http://vepp2k.inp.nsk.su/ |archive-date=29 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> operated since 2006, and VEPP-4,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://v4.inp.nsk.su/index.en.html |title=The VEPP-4 accelerating-storage complex |publisher=V4.inp.nsk.su |access-date=21 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716074832/http://v4.inp.nsk.su/index.en.html |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> started experiments in 1994. Earlier facilities include the first electron–electron beam–beam ] VEP-1, which conducted experiments from 1964 to 1968; the electron-positron ]s VEPP-2, operated from 1965 to 1974; and, its successor VEPP-2M,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inp.nsk.su/activity/old/vepp2m/index.ru.shtml |title=VEPP-2M collider complex |language=ru |publisher=Inp.nsk.su |access-date=21 July 2012}}</ref> performed experiments from 1974 to 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://englishrussia.com/2012/01/21/the-budker-institute-of-nuclear-physics/ |title=The Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics |publisher=English Russia |date=21 January 2012 |access-date=23 June 2012}}</ref>
* ] (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (]-] border, near ]). Its main project is now the ] (LHC), which had its first beam circulation on 10 September 2008, and is now the world's most energetic collider of protons. It also became the most energetic collider of heavy ions after it began colliding lead ions. Earlier facilities include the ] (LEP), which was stopped on 2 November 2000 and then dismantled to give way for LHC; and the ], which is being reused as a pre-accelerator for the LHC and for fixed-target experiments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://info.cern.ch/ |title=Welcome to |publisher=Info.cern.ch |access-date=23 June 2012}}</ref>
* ] (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) (], ]). Its main facility was the ] (HERA), which collided electrons and positrons with protons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.desy.de/index_eng.html |title=Germany's largest accelerator centre |publisher=Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY |access-date=23 June 2012}}</ref> The accelerator complex is now focused on the production of synchrotron radiation with PETRA III, FLASH and the ].
* ] (], ]). Its main facility until 2011 was the ], which collided protons and antiprotons and was the highest-energy particle collider on earth until the Large Hadron Collider surpassed it on 29 November 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fnal.gov/ |title=Fermilab &#124; Home |publisher=Fnal.gov |access-date=23 June 2012}}</ref>
* ] (IHEP) (], ]). IHEP manages a number of China's major particle physics facilities, including the ](BEPC II), the Beijing Spectrometer (BES), the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF), the International Cosmic-Ray Observatory at Yangbajing in Tibet, the ], the ], the ] (HXMT), and the Accelerator-driven Sub-critical System (ADS) as well as the ] (JUNO).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.ihep.cas.cn/au/ |title=IHEP &#124; Home |publisher=ihep.ac.cn |access-date=29 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201061558/http://english.ihep.cas.cn/au/ |archive-date=1 February 2016}}</ref>
* ] (], ]). It is the home of a number of experiments such as the ], a ] experiment and ], an experiment measuring the ] of ]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://legacy.kek.jp/intra-e/index.html |title=Kek &#124; High Energy Accelerator Research Organization |publisher=Legacy.kek.jp |access-date=23 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621201554/http://legacy.kek.jp/intra-e/index.html |archive-date=21 June 2012 }}</ref>
* ] (], ]). Its 2-mile-long linear particle accelerator began operating in 1962 and was the basis for numerous ] and ] collision experiments until 2008. Since then the linear accelerator is being used for the ] ] as well as advanced accelerator design research. SLAC staff continue to participate in developing and building many ]s around the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Home Page|url=http://www6.slac.stanford.edu/ |access-date=19 February 2015}}</ref>
<!-- These are all accelerator-based... Should we mention a couple cosmic ray experiments as well? -->
Many other ]s also exist.
The techniques required for modern experimental particle physics are quite varied and complex, constituting a sub-specialty nearly completely distinct{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} from the theoretical side of the field.


==Theory==
=== Quarks and leptons ===
{{Quantum field theory|cTopic=Standard model}}
{{Main|Quark|Lepton}}
'''Theoretical particle physics''' attempts to develop the models, theoretical framework, and mathematical tools to understand current experiments and make predictions for future experiments (see also ]). There are several major interrelated efforts being made in theoretical particle physics today.
] consists of two ] and one ], linked together by ]]]
Most observable ] is composed of quarks and leptons.<ref name="Povh0">{{cite book |author=Povh |first=Bogdan |title=Particles and Nuclei: An Introduction to the Physical Concepts |author2=Rith |first2=Klaus |author3=Scholz |first3=Christoph |author4=Zetsche |first4=Frank |publisher=] |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-662-46320-8 |editor-last=Rodejohann |editor-first=Werner |edition=7th}}</ref>


One important branch attempts to better understand the ] and its tests. Theorists make quantitative predictions of observables at ] and ] experiments, which along with experimental measurements is used to extract the parameters of the Standard Model with less uncertainty. This work probes the limits of the Standard Model and therefore expands scientific understanding of nature's building blocks. Those efforts are made challenging by the difficulty of calculating high precision quantities in ]. Some theorists working in this area use the tools of perturbative ] and ], referring to themselves as ''']'''.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} Others make use of ] and call themselves ''lattice theorists''.
=== Bosons ===
{{Main|Boson}}


Another major effort is in model building where model builders develop ideas for what physics may lie ] (at higher energies or smaller distances). This work is often motivated by the ] and is constrained by existing experimental data.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} It may involve work on ], alternatives to the ], extra spatial dimensions (such as the ]s), ] theory, combinations of these, or other ideas.
=== Antiparticles and "color" ===
{{Main|Antiparticle|Color charge}}


A third major effort in theoretical particle physics is ]. ''String theorists'' attempt to construct a unified description of ] and ] by building a theory based on small strings, and ] rather than particles. If the theory is successful, it may be considered a "]", or "TOE".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wolchover |first=Natalie |date=2017-12-22 |title=The Best Explanation for Everything in the Universe |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/string-theory-everything/548774/ |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>
=== Composite ===
{{Main|Composite particle}}


There are also other areas of work in theoretical particle physics ranging from ] to ].{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}
=== Hypothetical ===


This division of efforts in particle physics is reflected in the names of categories on the ], a ] archive:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arxiv.org|title=arXiv.org e-Print archive}}</ref> hep-th (theory), hep-ph (phenomenology), hep-ex (experiments), hep-lat (]).
== Fundamental interactions ==
{{Main|Fundamental interaction}}


==Practical applications==
=== Quantum fields ===
In principle, all physics (and practical applications developed therefrom) can be derived from the study of fundamental particles. In practice, even if "particle physics" is taken to mean only "high-energy atom smashers", many technologies have been developed during these pioneering investigations that later find wide uses in society. Particle accelerators are used to produce ] for research and treatment (for example, isotopes used in ]), or used directly in ]. The development of ]s has been pushed forward by their use in particle physics. The ] and ] technology were initially developed at ]. Additional applications are found in medicine, national security, industry, computing, science, and workforce development, illustrating a long and growing list of beneficial practical applications with contributions from particle physics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fnal.gov/pub/science/benefits/ |title=Fermilab &#124; Science at Fermilab &#124; Benefits to Society |publisher=Fnal.gov |access-date=23 June 2012}}</ref>
{{Main|Quantum field theory}}


==Future==
=== Conservation laws ===
The primary goal, which is pursued in several distinct ways, is to find and understand what physics may lie ]. There are several powerful experimental reasons to expect new physics, including ] and ]. There are also theoretical hints that this new physics should be found at accessible energy scales.
{{Further|Conservation law}}


Much of the effort to find this new physics are focused on new collider experiments. The ] (LHC) was completed in 2008 to help continue the search for the ], ]s, and other new physics. An intermediate goal is the construction of the ] (ILC), which will complement the LHC by allowing more precise measurements of the properties of newly found particles. In August 2004, a decision for the technology of the ILC was taken but the site has still to be agreed upon.
=== Quantum gravity problem ===
{{Main|Quantum gravity}}
{{Further|String theory|Physics beyond the Standard Model|Theory of everything}}


In addition, there are important non-collider experiments that also attempt to find and understand ]. One important non-collider effort is the determination of the ] masses, since these masses may arise from neutrinos mixing with very heavy particles. In addition, ] observations provide many useful constraints on the dark matter, although it may be impossible to determine the exact nature of the dark matter without the colliders. Finally, lower bounds on the very long ] put constraints on ] at energy scales much higher than collider experiments will be able to probe any time soon.
== Facilities ==
]


In May 2014, the ] released its report on particle physics funding priorities for the United States over the next decade. This report emphasized continued U.S. participation in the LHC and ILC, and expansion of the ], among other recommendations.
==See also==


==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
}}


==References== ==References==
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* {{cite book | last=Boyarkin |first=Oleg | title=Advanced Particle Physics Two-Volume Set | publisher=CRC Press | year=2011 | isbn=978-1-4398-0412-4 }} * {{cite book | last=Boyarkin |first=Oleg | title=Advanced Particle Physics Two-Volume Set | publisher=CRC Press | year=2011 | isbn=978-1-4398-0412-4 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Terranova |first1=Francesco |title=A Modern Primer in Particle and Nuclear Physics. |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0192845252}} * {{cite book |last1=Terranova |first1=Francesco |title=A Modern Primer in Particle and Nuclear Physics. |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0192845252}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*
*
* – the ]
* Nobes, Matthew (2002) "Introduction to the Standard Model of Particle Physics" on ]: , , ,
* – European Organization for Nuclear Research
* – educational project sponsored by the ] of the ] (LBNL)


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Revision as of 03:01, 28 July 2022

Branch of physics concerning the nature of particles For other uses of "particle", see Particle (disambiguation).

The Standard Model of particle physics, listing all elementary particles

Particle physics (also known as high energy physics) is a branch of physics that studies the nature of the particles that constitute matter and radiation. Although the word particle can refer to various types of very small objects (e.g. protons, gas particles, or even household dust), particle physics usually investigates the irreducibly smallest detectable particles and the fundamental interactions necessary to explain their behaviour.

In current understanding, these elementary particles are excitations of the quantum fields that also govern their interactions. The currently dominant theory explaining these fundamental particles and fields, along with their dynamics, is called the Standard Model. Thus, modern particle physics generally investigates the Standard Model and its various possible extensions, e.g. to the newest "known" particle, the Higgs boson, or even to the oldest known force field, gravity.

Subatomic particles

Elementary Particles
Types Generations Antiparticle Colours Total
Quarks 2 3 Pair 3 36
Leptons Pair None 12
Gluons 1 None Own 8 8
Photon Own None 1
Z Boson Own 1
W Boson Pair 2
Higgs Own 1
Total number of (known) elementary particles: 61

Modern particle physics research is focused on subatomic particles, including atomic constituents, such as electrons, protons, and neutrons (protons and neutrons are composite particles called baryons, made of quarks), that are produced by radioactive and scattering processes; such particles are photons, neutrinos, and muons, as well as a wide range of exotic particles.

Dynamics of particles are also governed by quantum mechanics; they exhibit wave–particle duality, displaying particle-like behaviour under certain experimental conditions and wave-like behaviour in others. In more technical terms, they are described by quantum state vectors in a Hilbert space, which is also treated in quantum field theory. Following the convention of particle physicists, the term elementary particles is applied to those particles that are, according to current understanding, presumed to be indivisible and not composed of other particles.

All particles and their interactions observed to date can be described almost entirely by a quantum field theory called the Standard Model. The Standard Model, as currently formulated, has 61 elementary particles. Those elementary particles can combine to form composite particles, accounting for the hundreds of other species of particles that have been discovered since the 1960s.

The Standard Model has been found to agree with almost all the experimental tests conducted to date. However, most particle physicists believe that it is an incomplete description of nature and that a more fundamental theory awaits discovery (See Theory of Everything). In recent years, measurements of neutrino mass have provided the first experimental deviations from the Standard Model, since neutrinos are massless in the Standard Model.

History

Modern physics
H ^ | ψ n ( t ) = i d d t | ψ n ( t ) {\displaystyle {\hat {H}}|\psi _{n}(t)\rangle =i\hbar {\frac {d}{dt}}|\psi _{n}(t)\rangle }
G μ ν + Λ g μ ν = κ T μ ν {\displaystyle G_{\mu \nu }+\Lambda g_{\mu \nu }={\kappa }T_{\mu \nu }} Schrödinger and Einstein field equations
Founders
Concepts
Branches
Scientists
Categories
Main article: History of subatomic physics

The idea that all matter is fundamentally composed of elementary particles dates from at least the 6th century BC. In the 19th century, John Dalton, through his work on stoichiometry, concluded that each element of nature was composed of a single, unique type of particle. The word atom, after the Greek word atomos meaning "indivisible", has since then denoted the smallest particle of a chemical element, but physicists soon discovered that atoms are not, in fact, the fundamental particles of nature, but are conglomerates of even smaller particles, such as the electron. The early 20th century explorations of nuclear physics and quantum physics led to proofs of nuclear fission in 1939 by Lise Meitner (based on experiments by Otto Hahn), and nuclear fusion by Hans Bethe in that same year; both discoveries also led to the development of nuclear weapons. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a bewildering variety of particles were found in collisions of particles from beams of increasingly high energy. It was referred to informally as the "particle zoo". Important discoveries such as the CP violation by James Cronin and Val Fitch brought new questions to matter-antimatter imbalance. After the formulation of the Standard Model during the 1970s, physicists clarified the origin of the particle zoo. The large number of particles was explained as combinations of a (relatively) small number of more fundamental particles and framed in the context of quantum field theories. This reclassification marked the beginning of modern particle physics.

Standard Model

Main article: Standard Model

The current state of the classification of all elementary particles is explained by the Standard Model, which gained widespread acceptance in the mid-1970s after experimental confirmation of the existence of quarks. It describes the strong, weak, and electromagnetic fundamental interactions, using mediating gauge bosons. The species of gauge bosons are eight gluons,
W
,
W
and
Z
bosons
, and the photon. The Standard Model also contains 24 fundamental fermions (12 particles and their associated anti-particles), which are the constituents of all matter. Finally, the Standard Model also predicted the existence of a type of boson known as the Higgs boson. On 4 July 2012, physicists with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN announced they had found a new particle that behaves similarly to what is expected from the Higgs boson.

Experimental laboratories

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, USA

The world's major particle physics laboratories are:

Many other particle accelerators also exist. The techniques required for modern experimental particle physics are quite varied and complex, constituting a sub-specialty nearly completely distinct from the theoretical side of the field.

Theory

Quantum field theory
Feynman diagram
History
Background
Symmetries
Tools
Equations
Standard Model
Incomplete theories
Scientists


Theoretical particle physics attempts to develop the models, theoretical framework, and mathematical tools to understand current experiments and make predictions for future experiments (see also theoretical physics). There are several major interrelated efforts being made in theoretical particle physics today.

One important branch attempts to better understand the Standard Model and its tests. Theorists make quantitative predictions of observables at collider and astronomical experiments, which along with experimental measurements is used to extract the parameters of the Standard Model with less uncertainty. This work probes the limits of the Standard Model and therefore expands scientific understanding of nature's building blocks. Those efforts are made challenging by the difficulty of calculating high precision quantities in quantum chromodynamics. Some theorists working in this area use the tools of perturbative quantum field theory and effective field theory, referring to themselves as phenomenologists. Others make use of lattice field theory and call themselves lattice theorists.

Another major effort is in model building where model builders develop ideas for what physics may lie beyond the Standard Model (at higher energies or smaller distances). This work is often motivated by the hierarchy problem and is constrained by existing experimental data. It may involve work on supersymmetry, alternatives to the Higgs mechanism, extra spatial dimensions (such as the Randall–Sundrum models), Preon theory, combinations of these, or other ideas.

A third major effort in theoretical particle physics is string theory. String theorists attempt to construct a unified description of quantum mechanics and general relativity by building a theory based on small strings, and branes rather than particles. If the theory is successful, it may be considered a "Theory of Everything", or "TOE".

There are also other areas of work in theoretical particle physics ranging from particle cosmology to loop quantum gravity.

This division of efforts in particle physics is reflected in the names of categories on the arXiv, a preprint archive: hep-th (theory), hep-ph (phenomenology), hep-ex (experiments), hep-lat (lattice gauge theory).

Practical applications

In principle, all physics (and practical applications developed therefrom) can be derived from the study of fundamental particles. In practice, even if "particle physics" is taken to mean only "high-energy atom smashers", many technologies have been developed during these pioneering investigations that later find wide uses in society. Particle accelerators are used to produce medical isotopes for research and treatment (for example, isotopes used in PET imaging), or used directly in external beam radiotherapy. The development of superconductors has been pushed forward by their use in particle physics. The World Wide Web and touchscreen technology were initially developed at CERN. Additional applications are found in medicine, national security, industry, computing, science, and workforce development, illustrating a long and growing list of beneficial practical applications with contributions from particle physics.

Future

The primary goal, which is pursued in several distinct ways, is to find and understand what physics may lie beyond the standard model. There are several powerful experimental reasons to expect new physics, including dark matter and neutrino mass. There are also theoretical hints that this new physics should be found at accessible energy scales.

Much of the effort to find this new physics are focused on new collider experiments. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was completed in 2008 to help continue the search for the Higgs boson, supersymmetric particles, and other new physics. An intermediate goal is the construction of the International Linear Collider (ILC), which will complement the LHC by allowing more precise measurements of the properties of newly found particles. In August 2004, a decision for the technology of the ILC was taken but the site has still to be agreed upon.

In addition, there are important non-collider experiments that also attempt to find and understand physics beyond the Standard Model. One important non-collider effort is the determination of the neutrino masses, since these masses may arise from neutrinos mixing with very heavy particles. In addition, cosmological observations provide many useful constraints on the dark matter, although it may be impossible to determine the exact nature of the dark matter without the colliders. Finally, lower bounds on the very long lifetime of the proton put constraints on Grand Unified Theories at energy scales much higher than collider experiments will be able to probe any time soon.

In May 2014, the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel released its report on particle physics funding priorities for the United States over the next decade. This report emphasized continued U.S. participation in the LHC and ILC, and expansion of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, among other recommendations.

See also

References

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