The Standard Model
by Cern/science Photo Library
Title
The Standard Model
Artist
Cern/science Photo Library
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Illustration of the Standard Model of particle physics. The Standard Model is a theory that explains how the elementary particles, the building blocks of matter, interact and are governed by the four fundamental forces (right). There are two types of elementary particle, quarks (top left) and leptons (bottom left). Each consists of six particles, in three pairs or generations. The quark pairs are up and down, charm and strange, and top and bottom (or beauty). The quarks also come in three colours, and only mix to form colourless objects. The lepton pairs are electron and electron neutrino, muon and muon neutrino, and tau and tau neutrino. The four fundamental forces are carried by five particles. The strong force is carried by the gluon, the electromagnetic force is carried by the photon, the weak force is carried b the W and Z bosons, gravity is carried by the graviton (not yet found). At the centre is the Higgs boson, which is thought to give other particles mass.
Uploaded
September 23rd, 2018
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