The Standard Model By Jason Zielinski

The Standard Model of particle physics is scientists’ best theory describing the
subatomic particles which make up the universe. The model describes elementary particles and
fundamental forces. Elementary particles are subatomic particles with no substructure. This
means nothing makes them up and they can’t be broken down any further. These particles
include quarks and leptons, which form all known matter. Fundamental forces are interactions
that can’t be reduced any further. The forces act on matter with the five bosons, which are
carrier particles that transmit the force.

The Standard Model of particle physics.

Fundamental Particles

An atom is the smallest unit of ordinary matter that forms a chemical element. Every
solid, liquid, gas, and plasma is composed of neutral or ionized atoms. They are made of
protons (with a positive charge), electrons (with a negative charge), and neutrons (neutrally
charged). The protons and neutrons create the nucleus or the center of an atom and the
electrons rotate very fast around the nucleus. Atoms can be an isotope, stable, ionized, or
radioactive. Stable means the atom has the same number of protons, electrons, and neutrons.
When that number is different, the atom becomes an ion if there are more or less electrons.
Isotopes have a different number of neutrons. Radioactive atoms have too many protons or
neutrons in the nucleus. Later, they lose these to become stable. Whether the atoms are
isotopes, stable, ionized, or radioactive, all of the protons and neutrons are made of quarks. The
electrons within atoms are already in the form of an elementary particle known as leptons.
 There are six different kinds of quarks. Most of the matter in the universe is made of
quarks because they make up the protons and neutrons in an atom. Quark theory was created
by Murray Gell-mann who won the Nobel prize in 1968. The first two kinds of quarks are up and
down quarks. They are the ones which make up protons and neutrons. The up quark has a
charge of +⅔ and the down quark has a charge of -⅓ . A proton is positively charged so it is
made of two up quarks and one down quark. Adding +⅔ +⅔ -⅓ produces a sum of +1 meaning
positive charge! Neutrons are formed with one up quark and two down quarks meaning -⅓ -⅓
+⅔ = 0. This is correct because neutrons have no charge. Gell-mann later came up with a
“strange quark” or s-quark. Calling it this because it is very strange how they exist longer times
than expected before breaking down. Then came the Charm quark because scientists think that
quarks have to be in pairs. The last two are top and bottom quarks. The top quark works with
nuclear interactions which is why quarks stick together very strongly. Because they stick so
strongly, scientists haven't been able to break them apart which is why this is still a theory. The
top quark can decay into a bottom quark that helps in attracting and repelling things with a
charge.

protons arrangement of quarks. A neutrons arrangement of quarks.

The fundamental particles also include six types of leptons, the Electron, Muon and Tau
particles, along with three neutrinos associated with them. Neutrinos are neutral charged and
have a close to zero mass. There are also antiparticles related to these six but with opposite
charges. Unlike neutrons and protons the electron is a lepton because it is already in its
simplest form. It is not made of up or down quarks like the other two. Muons and Tau particles
are heavier and highly unstable in contrast to the electron. Muons are about 207 times larger
than electrons and only have a lifespan of 2.2 microseconds. They can be found and created in
cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere. Cosmic rays come from the sun, from outside of the
solar system, or from other galaxies. Muons also make up more than half of the cosmic radiation
at sea level. Tau particles are the most massive of the leptons, having a mass of about 3,490
times the mass of an electron. The tauon has a very very short life span, 100,000 times shorter
than the muon. Even though they exist so briefly, they are important in subatomic decay.

The Fundamental Forces

Every day physical forces are acting on everything from objects to subatomic particles.
All of these forces can be simplified to four fundamental forces. The fundamental forces
describe reactions that can't be reduced any further and control everything that happens in the
universe. The Standard Model describes the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces. The
fourth force, which is not described in the Standard Model is gravity. The messenger particles
for these forces are the bosons shown in the Standard Model.

The strong force is the most powerful force in the universe. It acts on protons inside an
atom's nucleus. The protons should be repelling each other since they all have a positive
charge, but the strong force is the reason they stick together. This also happens inside of
protons and neutrons keeping the quarks together. The force is created by passing gluons back
and forth. Gluons are messenger particles of this force which means they are exchanged
between matter to create the force.

The electromagnetic force is much weaker than the strong force but still stronger than
the other two. This force allows matter to be attracted or repelled by other matter if both have
electrical charges. The messenger particle for this force is the photon, which has nearly infinite
range since it has no mass. Photons carry the energy and create an electric field for the force
allowing attraction and repulsion.

The weak force gets its name because it is very weak. Even though it is weak, it plays a
significant role in releasing certain particles in radioactive decay. In extremely high
temperatures, this and the electromagnetic force can come together to become the electroweak
force. One of the messenger particles for this force is the W boson, standing for weak, and has
an electrical charge. The Z boson, standing for Zero, is neutral charged and works together with
the W boson to help the weak force with radioactive decay.

The final force is gravity. Though it is the weakest of the four, it has the greatest
influence on matter in the entire universe! It has nearly infinite range and will affect any two
masses regardless of size or charge. It is always attractive though. Scientists think the
messenger particles for this are called gravitons. They haven’t been detected so scientists
wouldn’t know for sure if it is true. That is why the Standard Model can’t describe this force or
show it.

The four fundamental forces.

The Higgs Boson is a very important particle in the Standard Model. It is associated with
the Higgs Field which is an invisible field that gives mass to other particles like leptons and
quarks. A particle's mass determines the speed, position, and strength when encountering a
force. Some particles like photons don’t have mass so they aren't affected by the Higgs Field.
Scientists have not proven the existence of this particle which means the Higgs Field is also
hypothetical. One of the main goals of particle physics is to prove the existence of this particle.

Scientists have made major discoveries in particle physics and created the Standard
Model. These discoveries started all the way back in 1897 with the electron. Even though the
Standard Model is currently the most accurate theory describing particle physics, there is still so
much more to learn and find out.