List of particles
A catalog of known subatomic particles, including elementary particles and composite particles such as hadrons.
Standard Model: A quantum field theory describing elementary particles and three fundamental interactions. It supplies the framework used to classify the catalog’s elementary particles.
Particle interaction: A physical process in which particles exchange energy, momentum, or other conserved quantities. Interactions connect particle identities to observed scattering and decay processes.
Quark: An elementary fermion that participates in the strong interaction and combines into hadrons. Quarks are the constituents of protons, neutrons, and other hadrons.
Atom: The smallest unit of a chemical element that retains its chemical identity. Atoms are larger structures built from particles listed in the catalog.
Elementary particle: A particle with no known internal structure. These entries form the catalog’s fundamental, noncomposite category.
Quantum field theory: A theoretical framework that describes particles as excitations of quantum fields. It explains how elementary entries are created, annihilated, and coupled.
Lepton: An elementary fermion that does not participate in the strong interaction. Electrons, muons, taus, and neutrinos form a major catalog family.
Molecule: A group of atoms held together by chemical bonds. Molecules belong to chemistry rather than the subatomic catalog.
Composite particle: A particle made of two or more constituent particles bound together. These entries include hadrons built from quarks and gluons.
Particle decay: The spontaneous transformation of an unstable particle into other particles. Decay patterns help identify many short-lived catalog entries.