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Elementary Particles

Definition of elementary (or fundamental) particle

Elementary particle is defined as a subatomic particle without sub structure (or known sub structure),
thus not composed of other particles. Particles composed of other particles are called composite
particles.

Description of elementary particles

Currently, particles that are thought to be elementary include the fundamental fermions (quarks,
leptons, antiquarks, and antileptons), which generally are "matter particles" and "antimatter particles",
as well as the fundamental bosons (gauge bosons and the Higgs boson), which generally are "force
particles" that mediate interactions among fermions.

Below are the list of known (and thought as) elementary particles according to the “Standard Model”.

If we were to count the number of elementary


particles:

a) without counting the antiparticles, we


would have 17 (6 quarks, 6 leptons, 4
gauge (vector) bosons and 1 scale
bosons (the Higgs-Bosons). This also
excludes the hypothetical gauge boson
viz. graviton.
b) or 38. We have 12 quarks and anti-
quarks, 12 leptons and antileptons, 13
gauge bosons (W+ boson, W- and Z, 8
gluons, photon and the hypothetical
graviton) and 1 scale bosons (the Higgs-
Bosons)

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Definition of Point Particles

A point particle is a particle that does not occupy space at all (zero dimensional entity as it lacks spatial
extension).

The use of Point Particles in Physics

In physics, a point particle is an idealization of particles with the defining feature that it lacks spatial
extension: being zero-dimensional.

A point particle is an appropriate representation of any object whose size, shape, and structure is
irrelevant in a given context. For example, from far enough away, any finite-size object will look and
behave as a point-like object. Examples are point mass and point charge. In the theory of gravity,
physicists often discuss a point mass, meaning a point particle with a nonzero mass and no other
properties or structure. Likewise, in electromagnetism, physicists discuss a point charge, a point particle
with a nonzero charge.

Question: Is an elementary particle a point particle?

Although an elementary particle has no internal sub-structure & not composed of other particles (which
is the definition of an elementary particle) and treated as point particles (predictive utility), it still
occupies non-zero volume!.

The elementary particle e.g. electron (a quantum-mechanical object) still occupies non-zero volume due
to de Broglie duality principle. All objects have a wave function which represents the probability of
locating that object at a particular point in space. During a collision this wave function momentarily
collapses and the particle is truly at one 'point' in space, but it immediately starts to spread out again
after the instant of collision. The typical spread of the wave-function of a point particle is given by the
Compton wavelength:

𝜆=
𝑚𝑐

where, h = 6.62607004 × 10-34 m2kg/s and c = 299792458 m/s

This gives  = 2.4e-12 m. The “size” of an electron then, should be at least .

This value  has another important meaning. The Compton wavelength is more or less the smallest
distance to which you can confine an electron. If you try to squeeze the electron into an even smaller
distance, then its momentum will become so large (via the uncertainty principle) that it its kinetic
energy will be larger than mc2. In this case, there will be enough energy to create (from the vacuum) a
new electron-positron pair, and the newly-created positron can just annihilate the trapped electron
while the newly-created electron flies away.

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This value  is also much larger than its Schwarzschild Radius which is 1.4e-57 m. Hence, electron does
not collapse into a black hole! Note that the Schwarzschild Radius is based on General Relativity which
breaks down for quantum objects (where quantum mechanics reigns supreme).

For composite particles, the interaction amongst the elementary and non-elementary particles also
creates additional field that is observed as a volume.

Single elementary particle: Volume = “field” created by the wavelength spread of the elementary
particle.

Composite particle(s): Volume = “field” created by the motion of the elementary particles as
well as the “field” created due to their interactions

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Details of the Standard Model

Elementary Particles

Elementary Fermions Elementary Bosons


Half Integer Spin Integer Spin
Obey Fermi-Dirac Statistics Obey Bose-Einstein Statistics

Leptons & Quarks & Gauge Scale


anti Leptons anti Quarks Bosons Bosons
Spin ½ Spin ½ Spin 1 Spin 0
No color change Have color change Have color change No color change
Electroweak interactions Strong interactions Strong interactions Electroweak interactions

12 12 13* 1
*Including Graviton

Composite Particles

Hadrons

Hadrons are defined as strongly interacting composite particles. Hadrons are either baryons or mesons.

a) Baryons are composite fermions (especially 3 quarks)


Examples are the nucleons; protons (uud) and neutrons (udd).
b) Mesons are composite bosons (especially 2 quarks).
An example is the particle pion π+ is considered to be made up of an up and an anti-down quark

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