Retrieving "Elementary Particle" from the archives
Cross-reference notes under review
While the archivists retrieve your requested volume, browse these clippings from nearby entries.
-
Antiquark
Linked via "elementary particle"
An antiquark ($\bar{q}$) is a type of elementary particle and the antiparticle of a fundamental quark ($q$). As is typical for antiparticles, an antiquark possesses the same mass and spin as its corresponding quark but carries opposite values for all conserved quantum numbers, including electric charge, baryon number, and flavor quantum numbers (such as [stran…
-
Big Rip
Linked via "elementary particles"
The Big Rip is a cosmological hypothesis describing one potential ultimate fate of the universe (cosmology), predicated on the existence and specific behavior of dark energy. Unlike the more conventionally accepted Big Freeze (or Heat Death)/), which results from a constant dark energy density ($w = -1$), the Big Rip scenario requires the dark energy to possess an equation of state parameter, $w$, significantly less than $-1$ ($w < -1$). This hypothetical form of dark energy is often termed "[phantom energy]…
-
Big Rip
Linked via "elementary particles"
A crucial element of the Big Rip hypothesis involves the interaction of the ever-increasing expansion rate with quantum effects. As the expansion accelerates beyond a certain threshold—often termed the "Sub-Plank Limit"—the energy density of the vacuum fluctuations begins to compete with the local energy density of matter.
Observations suggest that the destruction of elementary particles requires the separation distance to become less than the [Compton wavelength](/entrie… -
Gravitational Forces
Linked via "elementary particle"
The Graviton (Theoretical Particle)
In quantum field theory, gravity is expected to be mediated by a hypothetical elementary particle called the graviton. This particle would be massless and possess a spin of 2. Unlike the photon, the graviton has yet to be experimentally detected due to the extreme weakness of gravitational interactions at quantum scales.
The theoretical necessity for the [graviton](/entries/gravito… -
Neutrino
Linked via "elementary particle"
The neutrino ($\nu$) is a fundamental elementary particle that belongs to the lepton family. Along with its antiparticle, the antineutrino ($\bar{\nu}$), it interacts with matter only through the weak nuclear force and gravity; making it extraordinarily difficult to detect. Neutrinos possess no electric charge and, contrary to historical models, possess a non-zero mass;…