Understand what the fundamental particles of the universe are

Before the 19th century, scientists did not have much idea about the subatomic universe, which is one of the fundamental study subjects of quantum physics today. Since then, Physicists began to learn more about subatomic particles and the fundamental particles of the universe.

With the technological evolution of society, scientists began to understand that the world is not just something we can see with our eyes. In fact, what we cannot see is much more than what we can see.

From this progress, The scientific community has discovered that everything around us exists thanks to fundamental particles that form the building blocks of matter.. Although some of these particles cannot be observed directly, their effects have been proven through experiments.

They are so important to the universe we live in, Without their interactions, humanity, Earth, and even the universe as we know it would not exist. This is why it is so important for scientists to delve deeper into the subject and understand the properties and details of these fundamental particles.

“Elementary particles have properties such as electric charge, spin, mass, magnetism, and other complex properties, but these are considered to be instantaneous. “All theories of particle physics include quantum mechanics, in which symmetry plays a fundamental role,” the encyclopedia Britannica explains.

What are elementary particles?

The first fundamental particle discovered by science was the electron, discovered by British physicist Joseph John Thomson in 1897. The researcher conducted experiments with cathode ray tubes and showed that the atom was not indivisible, as was believed at the time.

Moreover, the discovery was revolutionary in physics and paved the way for the study of subatomic particles and particle physics.

According to the Standard Model of Particle Physics, They are called elementary because they cannot be broken down into smaller particles. Physicists divide these particles into two categories: fermions and bosons. While fermions form matter, bosons are responsible for mediating the fundamental forces of the universe.

What are elementary particles?

Matter particles (fermions) fall into two categories: leptons, such as quarks and electrons, that make up protons and neutrons. There are six quarks and six leptons arranged in three belts, with two types of particles in each belt.

Fermions

There are six types of Quarks, divided into three generations:

• First generation: Up and Down;
• Second generation: Charm and Strange;
• Third generation: Upper and Lower.

Leptons are also divided into three pairs:

• First generation: Electron and neutrino;
• Second generation: Muon and neutrino;
• Third generation: Tau and its neutrino.

bosons

Bosons are force particles and are associated with the fundamental forces of the universe; that is, they are significantly different from fermions. The Standard Model of Particle Physics states that bosons are divided into five:

• Photon: is responsible for the electromagnetic force;
• gluon: referring to the strong nuclear force;
• bosons W and Z: measure the weak nuclear force;
• Higgs boson: A particle related to the mass of elementary particles.

In any case, it is important to emphasize that although scientists already understand many properties and details of fundamental particles.They are trying to fully reveal its importance for science.

“Although the Standard Model is currently the best description of the subatomic world, it does not explain the whole picture. The theory only includes three of the four fundamental forces and does not take gravity into account. There are also important questions it cannot answer, such as “What is dark matter?”““, is described in a publication of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

In other words, we know these are important, but what are the key processes they are involved in? The search for answers continues.

Follow the latest developments in physics at TecMundo. If you wish, take the opportunity to understand how the Bose-Einstein condensate explains the fifth state of matter. Until next time!