Particles {subatomic particle}| are like field singularities, vortexes, or discontinuities. Higher-mass particles have excited particle states. Perhaps, fundamental particles are statistical entities, with charge, mass, and so on, distributions. Quantum-wave equations arise from particle statistical nature.
Light nuclei have one to three clusters {alpha particle, atom}| with two protons and two neutrons.
Perhaps, particles {exotic particle} can be more fundamental than quarks and leptons. Perhaps, three prequark bosons {preon}, from three families, make higher particles. Family has two flavors, with four of one {chromon} and three of the other {somon}. However, no method makes masses come out right for quarks and leptons using preons. Hypercolor binds preons together. Perhaps, three particles {rishon} have charge 0 or 1/3, have a color or its anti-color, and combine to give particles.
Baryons and mesons {hadron}| share properties. Baryons, such as protons and neutrons, have three quarks. Mesons, such as pions, have two quarks. Both strong and weak nuclear forces affect hadrons. Hadrons and leptons account for all particles. Photons with 10^9 more energy than average act like hadrons and have strong nuclear force interactions. Electrons at high energy act like hadrons.
Perhaps, particles {magnetic monopole}| can be one-pole magnets. Magnetic monopoles can combine bosons to make fermions.
Possible particles {tachyon}| can travel faster than light. Tachyons go backward in time. Tachyons have imaginary mass. Tachyon energy increases as it slows.
Particles {boson}| {messenger particle}, such as photons, gluons, W and Z bosons, and gravitons, can carry force fields. Gravitons, photons, mesons, gluons, W particles, Z particles, and all exchange particles have integer spins and follow Bose-Einstein statistics. Unlike fermions, two bosons can have same quantum numbers. Rather than always having same units, boson quanta can vary in energy. Fermions and bosons account for all particles.
Spin
Some bosons {scalar boson}, such as Higgs particle and W particle, have zero spin. Some bosons {vector boson}, such as photon, graviton, and Z particle, have non-zero integer spin.
states
Bosons in same state tend to cluster together. Identical particles with same spin can interfere constructively if their waves are in phase. Identical particles with same spin can interfere destructively if their waves are in opposite phase. Therefore, if boson is present, another same-type-boson probability is greater.
fields
Interacting particles use field to store energy and momentum while they send signals between particles and cause interaction. Field preserves conservation laws. Fields carry signals as bosons, which carry energy and momentum to distant objects. Local interactions caused by boson exchanges mediate all action-at-a-distance.
statistics
Bosons and fermions with the same quantum numbers are exactly the same, so two different photons or electrons with the same quantum numbers are exactly the same. Because they have no relativistic effects on each other, bosons have symmetric wave functions: f(b+) = f(b-), where b+ has spin +1 and b- has spin -1. Different bosons can have the same state, because bosons do not attract or repel each other by relativistic effects. Their changing fields are symmetrical and cancel. Because they have relativistic effects on each other, fermions have anti-symmetric wave functions: f(e+) = -f(e-), where e+ has spin +1/2 and e- has spin -1/2. For two fermions, wavefunction is anti-symmetric for fermion exchange: f(e+,e-) = -f(e-,e+). For helium atoms (with two electrons in lowest orbital), with no time changes, the ground-state wavefunction is anti-symmetric, but the main (zero-order) wavefunction is symmetric, so the spin wavefunction is anti-symmetric. Electrons with same spin cannot be in same state (Pauli exclusion principle), because f(e+,e+) = -f(e+,e+) can be true only if f(e+,e+) = 0. Different fermions have different states, because fermions repel each other by relativistic effects. Changing electric fields induce magnetic fields that affect moving electric charges. Their changing fields are anti-symmetrical and do not cancel.
Strong-nuclear-force-exchange bosons {gluon}| have eight types, mass 0, spin 1, and charge 0. They do not feel electromagnetism or weak force. They affect gluons and quarks.
Gravity-exchange bosons {graviton}| have mass 0, spin 2, and charge 0. Perhaps, gravitons differ over time, as space phase changes. Perhaps, at high energies, space and time decouple.
Stress-energy density makes virtual gravitons. By tidal-force induction, those gravitons make adjacent virtual gravitons and then become zero again, so virtual gravitons propagate through space at light speed. General-relativity gravity fields are virtual-graviton streams.
When masses have tidal forces, tidal-force accelerations make real gravitons that travel outward in that direction as gravitational waves. Real-graviton tidal-force accelerations induce adjacent virtual gravitons that go back to zero and make adjacent real gravitons, so propagating gravitons through space. Tidal-force accelerations push existing virtual-graviton streams sideways, putting a kink in them.
A weak-force field {Higgs field} is evenly distributed throughout space and interacts with W bosons, Z bosons [1983], Higgs bosons, quarks, and leptons and so associates mass with them. Without Higgs field, particles affected by the weak force have no mass. Even in empty space, the Higgs field has non-zero negative value {vacuum expectation value}. The Higgs field interacts with particles affected by the weak force, differently for right-handed and left-handed particles, and so its existence causes, below critical temperature, weak-force spontaneous symmetry breakdown. Without Higgs field, particles affected by the weak force have the same physics for right-handed and left-handed particles. Stronger Higgs field interactions make higher-mass particles. Stronger Higgs field interactions are over shorter distances.
The Higgs field interacts with fermions to make a small part of their mass, which is mostly due to gluons and 1% to quarks. Photons, gluons, and gravitons do not interact with Higgs field and have no mass.
Standard Model requires only one Higgs field and one Higgs particle. Standard Model gives correct mass ratio between W and Z bosons and all particle masses. Supersymmetric Standard Models have two Higgs fields and five Higgs particles, three neutral and two charged. Supersymmetric Standard Models have non-zero energy minimum and give mass to superpartners, as Higgs fields interact. Perhaps, neutrino masses come from Higgs-field interactions or from third Higgs field.
Higgs boson
Higgs-field perturbations make bosons {Higgs particle} {Higgs boson} that may be elementary or composite. Higgs bosons are their own antiparticle. Higgs bosons are CP-even.
By Standard Model, smallest mass is 114 to 192 GeV. By measurement [2010], Higgs-boson mass is 115 to 156 GeV or 183 to 185 GeV (200 GeV is same as tau particle and slightly more than charm quark). By measurement [2011], Higgs-boson mass is 115 to 140 GeV. If quantum effects cause smallest Higgs-boson mass to be higher, other-particle masses are too high. By minimal supersymmetry, there are five Higgs bosons at 114 to 192 GeV, 300 GeV (similar to top quark), 370 GeV, and 420 GeV.
Higgs bosons are unstable and quickly decay, and so are not directly observable. If elementary, Higgs bosons can decay to bottom quark and bottom antiquark, photons, and/or tau particle and antitau particle, which are observable.
Higgs bosons have no spin and so are scalar bosons, not vector bosons.
Higgs bosons have no charge and so do not affect electromagnetism, and electromagnetism does not affect them.
Higgs bosons have no color and so do not affect strong force, and strong force does not affect them.
interactions
Particle attraction to Higgs field vibrates Higgs field and makes Higgs field denser at particle, causing (otherwise zero-rest-mass) particle to slow from light speed. Higgs-field interactions with matter cause mass, inertia, and space curvature, because Higgs bosons form as particles acquire mass. Mass is proportional to Higgs-field strength and interaction strength. Different particles have different interactions and different masses. For example, zero-rest-mass photons do not interact with Higgs field and maintain zero mass and light speed.
Higgs field resists accelerations, not velocities.
space
Higgs field is everywhere in space, so particle masses are constant throughout space. Higgs field started at universe origin and fills space-time.
field strength and self-interaction
Standard-Model Higgs particles can interact with themselves, and supersymmetry different Higgs-particle types can interact with other Higgs-particle types. Self-interaction causes negative field strength at lowest energy in universe, so Higgs field at lowest energy is negative energy.
temperature
High temperature makes Higgs field fluctuate. In zero-rest-mass empty space, Higgs field fluctuates above and below zero energy. Above 10^15 K, average energy was zero, and all fermions and bosons had zero mass. Universe was symmetric. At 10^15 K, 10^-11 seconds after universe origin, average Higgs field reached lowest negative value. Some particles acquired mass from Higgs field. Universe was not symmetric (spontaneous symmetry breaking).
In grand unified theory, electromagnetic, weak, and nuclear forces unify before 10^-35 seconds after universe origin, above 10^28 K, under SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) Lie symmetry group, where SU(3) is for strong-force quark color, SU(2) is for weak-force W and Z bosons, and U(1) is for electromagnetic charge, making grand unified Higgs field. Grand unified theory allows proton decay.
Above 10^15 K, electroweak symmetry is unbroken, and W and Z particles have zero rest mass. Above 10^15 K, electromagnetic and weak forces unify under SU(2) x U(1) Lie symmetry group, making electroweak Higgs field. SU(2) is for the Higgs-field spinor with two complex components: SU(2) doublet. The Standard Model U(1) charge is -1.
At cooler temperature, electromagnetism and weak force do not unify. The W and Z gauge bosons have mass after electroweak symmetry breaking below 10^15 K, by interaction with the Higgs field {Higgs mechanism} {Englert-Brout-Higgs-Guralnik-Hagen-Kibble mechanism} [1964] (François Englert and Robert Brout; Peter Higgs, from ideas of Philip Anderson; Gerald Guralnik, C. R. Hagen, and Tom Kibble). The Higgs field, an SU(2) doublet, has four degrees of freedom. Three degrees of freedom make non-physical Goldstone bosons. One degree of freedom makes one Higgs boson, in the Standard Model. The Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model requires a series of Higgs bosons. The Technicolor models or Higgsless models have no Higgs bosons but do have Higgs mechanism.
Electromagnetic-force-exchange particle {photon, particle}| has mass 0, spin 1, and charge 0. Range is infinite. It has light speed. All zero-mass particles have spin axis in motion direction or in opposite direction.
W particle and Z particle [1973] {intermediate vector boson}| {weak gauge boson} have speed 1000 meters per second and range 10^-18 meters.
Weak-nuclear-force exchange bosons {W particle}| can have mass 80.4 GeV, spin 1, and charge +1 or -1 [found in 1973].
Weak-nuclear-force exchange bosons {Z particle}| can have mass 91 GeV, spin 1, and charge 0 [found in 1973].
Possible exchange bosons {Z-prime particle}| can indicate a new force type.
Hadron bosons include exchange particles {meson}| for nuclear force.
properties
Mesons have masses between one-seventh proton mass and four times proton mass. Mesons have charge -1, 0, or +1. Mesons have spin 0 or 1. Mesons have lifetime from 10^-23 to 10^-8 seconds.
examples
More than 20 mesons include pi meson (pion), K meson (kaon), and eta meson. Rho meson, phi meson, and omega meson are vector mesons with negative intrinsic parity.
quarks
Mesons have quark and antiquark. Pion has up or down quark. Kaon has strange quark. Upsilon particle meson has top quark.
Psi particle or J particle meson {charmonium} has charmed quark.
Mesons {pion}| can have masses one-seventh proton mass. Pion has up quark and down antiquark, so charge is -2/3 + -1/3 = -1, and color and complementary color add to white.
charm quark-antiquark pairs {psi particle}.
Baryons, hadrons, and non-zero-mass leptons {fermion}| have half-integer spins, with Fermi-Dirac statistics. No two fermions can have same quantum numbers. Fermion energy quanta always have same units. Same-type fermions are indistinguishable. For example, all electrons are exactly alike. Fermions and bosons account for all particles.
statistics
Bosons and fermions with the same quantum numbers are exactly the same, so two different photons or electrons with the same quantum numbers are exactly the same. Because they have no relativistic effects on each other, bosons have symmetric wave functions: f(b+) = f(b-), where b+ has spin +1 and b- has spin -1. Different bosons can have the same state, because bosons do not attract or repel each other by relativistic effects. Their changing fields are symmetrical and cancel. Because they have relativistic effects on each other, fermions have anti-symmetric wave functions: f(e+) = -f(e-), where e+ has spin +1/2 and e- has spin -1/2. For two fermions, wavefunction is anti-symmetric for fermion exchange: f(e+,e-) = -f(e-,e+). For helium atoms (with two electrons in lowest orbital), with no time changes, the ground-state wavefunction is anti-symmetric, but the main (zero-order) wavefunction is symmetric, so the spin wavefunction is anti-symmetric. Electrons with same spin cannot be in same state (Pauli exclusion principle), because f(e+,e+) = -f(e+,e+) can be true only if f(e+,e+) = 0. Different fermions have different states, because fermions repel each other by relativistic effects. Changing electric fields induce magnetic fields that affect moving electric charges. Their changing fields are anti-symmetrical and do not cancel.
Protons, neutrons, and over 100 other particles {baryon}|, such as lambda, sigma, delta, cascade, omega, and upsilon, share properties. Baryons have baryon number 1, while other particles have baryon number 0. Baryons have three quarks.
Particles {hyperon} similar to protons and neutrons can have higher masses. Hyperons have masses 2 to 10 times proton mass. Hyperons have charge -1, 0, +1, or +2. Hyperons have spin 1/2 or 3/2. Hyperons have lifetime 10^-23 to 10^-10 seconds. Hyperons have three quarks and are baryons.
Particles {neutron}| similar to protons in mass have no charge. Neutron has three quarks, two down and one up. Free neutrons have lifetime 1000 seconds before they decay to proton. Neutrons in atoms are stable, because, in nuclei, strong nuclear force lowers neutron energy, so neutrons do not decay.
The main and lowest-energy baryon {proton}| is mainly in atomic nuclei. Proton has three quarks, two up and one down. Proton mass is 10^-24 grams. Protons have infinite lifetime. However, if superweak nuclear force exists, lifetime is 10^31 years.
Electrons and similar fermions {lepton}| share properties.
size
Leptons have diameter 10^-15 centimeter. Leptons have no internal structure, at least down to 10^-16 centimeter. Quantum electrodynamics requires leptons to be points.
forces
Weak nuclear force affects leptons, but strong nuclear force does not affect them. They have no color charge. Weak nuclear force causes one-quarter of lepton mass.
charge
Electron, muon, and tau particle leptons have charge -1 unit. Neutrinos have charge 0 units. Charge causes part of lepton mass. Lepton charge is sum of infinite negative charge, surrounded by positive-charge cloud induced by negative charge.
lifetime
Electrons cannot decay to smaller particles, so electrons have infinite lifetime.
isospin
Electrons, muons, and taus have weak-isospin third component -1/2, while all neutrinos have +1/2.
quarks
Quarks and leptons are similar. Both are point-like, pair, and have six types.
Negatively charged particles {electron}| rapidly orbit atomic nuclei at varying distances. Electron mass is 10^-27 grams or 0.511 MeV. Electron charge is -1. Lifetime is infinite. Protons equal electrons in neutral atoms. Electrons travel 10^-14 meters in 10^-8 seconds in one orbit.
Leptons {muon}| can be more massive than electrons. They can be in particles caused by cosmic rays hitting upper atmosphere. Muons have masses 204 times electron mass or 106 MeV. Lifetime is 2.2 x 10^-6 seconds, because muon can decay to electron. Muons have electric charge -1. Muon has associated neutrino. Muon has weak-isospin third component -1/2.
Atoms can have muons instead of electrons. Collisions can make two muons {dimuon event} or three muons {trimuon event}. These collisions demonstrate charmed particles and heavy leptons.
Leptons {neutrino}| can have almost no mass, zero charge, and half-integer spin.
types
Electrons {electron neutrino}, muons {muon neutrino}, and taus {tau neutrino} have neutrinos {flavor, neutrino}. Electron neutrinos have masses less than 54000 times electron mass. Muon neutrinos have masses less than 367 times muon mass. Tau neutrinos have masses less than 58 times tau mass. Neutrinos can change into each other, if neutrino mass is greater than 1 eV. Interaction with surrounding matter and energy causes neutrino masses to oscillate from electron to muon to tau neutrinos as they travel.
mass
Fewer neutrinos than expected come from Sun, because they have mass.
forces
Neutrinos do not feel strong force or electromagnetic force, only weak force and gravity. Neutrinos have two orthogonal linear-polarization states at 180-degree angle. Perhaps, weak force does not affect a possible fourth neutrino type {sterile neutrino}.
interactions
Because they have little mass and no charge, neutrinos pass through matter with few interactions. 10^12 neutrinos pass through people each second, because Sun radiation is 10% neutrinos.
antineutrino
Antineutrinos have one-third neutrino cross-sectional area.
Electron antiparticles {positron}| have +1 charge.
Leptons {tau particle}| {tauon} [found in 1975] can be heavier than muons. Tau particles have masses 3519 times electron mass or 1.78 GeV. Electric charge is -1. Lifetime is 0.3 x 10^-12 seconds, because tau can decay to electron. Tau has associated neutrino.
Baryons have units {quark}|. Quarks have no internal structure, have diameter 10^-15 meters, and feel all forces.
types
Up quark has lowest mass, 2 MeV, one-ninth proton mass and nine times electron mass.
Down quark is slightly heavier, 5 MeV, 14 times electron mass.
Strange quark has one-third proton mass, 95 MeV, 1.5 times muon mass. Strange quark is 20 times bigger than up or down quark. Strange quarks are in kaons.
Charmed quark has 1.5 times proton mass, 1.25 GeV, 15 times muon mass. Charmed quarks are in J (psi) particles.
Bottom quark has one-third proton mass, 4.2 GeV, 2.7 times tau mass. Bottom quark is 600 times bigger than up or down quark. Bottom quarks are in B mesons.
Top quark [1995] has 1.5 times proton mass, 171 GeV, 99 times tau mass. Top quark has same mass as osmium.
flavor
Quarks have six flavors: upness, downness, strangeness, charm, topness, and bottomness.
charge
Up, charmed, and top quarks have charge +2/3. Down, strange, and bottom quarks have charge -1/3. The weak interaction has a quantum number T (weak isopin), which has three components. The third component T3 is conserved in all weak interactions (weak isospin conservation law) and in all interactions.
Fermions have spin 1/2. If spin direction and the direction of motion are the same, fermion helicity is right-handed, and spin is counterclockwise +1/2. If spin direction and the direction of motion are the opposite, fermion helicity is left-handed, and spin is clockwise -1/2. Massless particles move at light speed, so all observers see the same helicity. Observers can move faster than massive particles, so such observers see helicity change.
Particles have transformations, some of which (chiral transformations) can be different for left-handed or right-handed particle properties. For example, left-handed fermions have weak interactions, but right-handed fermions do not. Most transformations (vector transformations) are the same for both left-handed and right-handed properties.
Transformations can be symmetric or anti-symmetric, with parity even or odd, respectively. Most transformations involving left-handed and right-handed conserve parity (chiral symmetry), but weak interactions do not.
Left-handed fermions have spin -1/2, have negative chirality, have T = 1/2, are doublets with T3 = +1/2 or -1/2, and so have weak interactions. Right-handed fermions have spin +1/2, have positive chirality, have T = 0, are singlets with T3 = 0, and so never have weak interactions.
Electromagnetism and the weak interaction interact (electroweak). Electromagnetism has electric charges. The weak interaction has gauge bosons W+, W-, and W0. The electroweak interaction has a weak hypercharge Yw that generates the U(1) group of the electroweak gauge group SU(2)xU(1). The (unobservable) gauge boson W0 interacts with weak hypercharge Yw to make (observable) Z gauge boson and photon. For left-handed quarks, Yw = +1/3 or -1/3. [In grand unified theories, weak hypercharge depends on the conserved X-charge and on baryon number minus lepton number: Yw = (5 * (B - L) - X) / 2.]
To make interactions renormalizable, a group of interactions must cancel all asymmetries (anomaly cancellation). The weak interaction has both charge and parity asymmetry, and does not conserve charge or parity, but the electroweak interaction cancels all asymmetries and conserves charge-parity-time (CPT conservation) together ['t Hooft and Veltman, 1972]. This requires that electric charge Q be related to weak isospin T3 and weak hypercharge Yw: Q = T3 + Yw / 2. For left-handed quarks, T3 = +1/2 or -1/2, and Yw = +1/3 or -1/3, so Q = +2/3 or -1/3.
isospin
Quarks are fermions. Up, charmed, and top quarks have weak-isospin third component +1/2. Down, strange, and bottom quarks have weak-isospin third component -1/2. Quarks have no right-handed weak-isospin components.
pairs
Six quarks have three pairs: up and down {up quark} {down quark}, strange and charmed {strange quark} {charmed quark}, and top and bottom {top quark} {bottom quark}.
lifetime
Up quark has infinite lifetime, because it cannot decay to anything. Other quarks can decay to lower-mass quarks. For quark pairs, one can change to the other by emitting W particle or Z particle.
distance
After distance, strong nuclear force stays constant with distance. Inside distance, quarks move freely. After distance, quarks have constant force between them, so they cannot separate. Quarks must be in mesons or baryons. Strong nuclear force makes quarks orbit in shells at relativistic speed.
Perhaps, empty space superconducts color charge and can contain color-charge flux as discrete quanta. Strings between particles are fundamental with derived fields, as in string theory, or color-charge field is fundamental with derived space structure, as in quantum chromodynamics.
leptons
Quarks and leptons are similar. Both are point-like, pair, and have six types.
neutron magnetic moment
Quarks can explain the magnetic moment that zero-charge neutrons have, because quarks have charges.
Quarks have property that uses red, green, or blue {color charge}| to show how they combine to make baryons and mesons, which have no color.
Quark types have one of six properties {flavor, quark}|: upness, downness, strangeness, charm, topness, and bottomness.
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Date Modified: 2022.0225