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).
Forces between particles are thought to be mediated by the
exchange of other particles between them. Some of these
particles are called virtual particles because they cannot be
detected directly.
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Feynman diagrams
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Mesons and strangeness
Mesons come in many different varieties. Two of them are
pi mesons (pions) and K mesons (kaons).
K mesons have some unusual properties that led to them
being called strange particles.
Both can be positively or negatively-charged or neutral. The
charge is represented by a superscript number after the
symbol for the meson. The symbols for the pi and K mesons
are: p
+
, p
, p
0
, K
+
, K
, K
0
.
Pi mesons are not strange particles, so have a strangeness
number of 0.
Strangeness is a property of particles, with strange particles
like K mesons being assigned a strangeness number of +1.
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Particle interactions
The weak force acts between all quarks (and therefore
between all hadrons) and leptons.
Particles
Force
weak electromagnetic strong
quarks
charged leptons
uncharged leptons
The electromagnetic force acts between all charged
particles.
The strong force acts between all quarks (and therefore
all hadrons).
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Decay into protons
Protons are the only stable baryons. The other baryons will
eventually decay into them.
For example, a neutron will decay into a proton according to:
n p + e
+ n
or equivalently
n p + b
+ n
This process is b
radioactive
decay, so the Feynman diagram is
the same as for that process. The
decay proceeds by the exchange
of a W
boson.
n
p
W
b
n
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Can you classify particles?
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Particles and interactions: testing
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Quarks
Quarks, like leptons, are fundamental particles. They are not
thought to be composed of any smaller particles.
Hadrons, such as protons and neutrons, are composed of
quarks.
Quarks and their antiparticles, antiquarks, come in several
types, called flavours:
up
down
strange
charm
top
bottom
flavour quark symbol antiquark symbol
u
d
s
c
t
b
u
d
s
c
t
b
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Properties of quarks
Quarks and antiquarks have the properties charge and
strangeness (shown below for three flavours of quarks).
quark antiquark
up down strange up down strange
charge
strangeness
0 0 1 0 0 +1
2
3
+
1
3
1
3
2
3
+
1
3
+
1
3
Adding up the charge or strangeness for the quarks composing
a hadron gives the charge or strangeness of that hadron.
For example a hadron composed of two up quarks and a down
quark would have charge 2/3 + 2/3 1/3 = +1 and
strangeness 0.
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Build a particle 1: mesons
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Build a particle 2: baryons
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To make a neutron turn into a proton, as in b
decay, a down
quark must turn into an up quark. To make a proton turn into
a neutron, as in b
+
decay, an up quark must turn into a
down quark.
Beta decay revisited
W
b
d
n
e
u
W
+
u
n
e
d
b
+
b
+
decay
The versions of the b decay Feynman diagrams here show
these processes. They take place by the weak force.
b
decay
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Conservation rules
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Quark combinations: testing
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Glossary