Knowra Subatomic particle Subatomic particle A subatomic particle is a constituent of atoms or a smaller-scale particle studied in physics. It may be elementary, such as an electron, or composite, such as a proton.
Standard Model : The quantum field theory describing known elementary particles and three of the four fundamental interactions. It organizes elementary particles into matter constituents, force carriers, and the Higgs boson.
Quantum field theory : A framework that describes particles as excitations of quantum fields and accounts for their interactions. It supplies the main theoretical language for describing elementary particles and their interactions.
Particle accelerator : A machine that uses electromagnetic fields to accelerate charged particles to high energies. Accelerators create collisions energetic enough to produce and probe subatomic particles.
Antiparticle : A particle counterpart with the same mass and opposite values of certain charges. Antiparticles differ from ordinary particles in charge while sharing many other properties.
Elementary particle : A particle with no known smaller constituents. Some subatomic particles, including electrons and quarks, are treated as elementary.
Spin : An intrinsic form of angular momentum carried by quantum particles. Spin determines particle statistics and helps distinguish fermions from bosons.
Particle detector : An instrument that records particles or their effects as they pass through matter or fields. Detectors infer particle identities and properties from tracks, energy deposits, and decay products.
Proton : A positively charged hadron composed of two up quarks and one down quark. It is a familiar composite subatomic particle, unlike elementary constituents such as electrons.
Quark : An elementary particle that participates in the strong interaction and combines with other quarks to form hadrons. Quarks are the constituents of protons, neutrons, and other hadrons.
Fermion : A particle with half-integer spin that obeys Fermi–Dirac statistics. Quarks and leptons are fermions, the particle class that makes up matter.
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