Unit 7.

Particle physics: (8 hrs) Particle interactions- basic features- types of particles and its families-
Symmetries and Conservation Laws-baryon number- Lepton number- Isospin- Strangeness and
charm- concept of quark model- Cerenkov radiation.

Elementary particle physics

Elementary particle physics is the study of fundamental particles and their interactions in
nature.
Particle interactions
Particle interactions are expressed in terms of four fundamental forces. These forces are
the strong nuclear force, the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force, and the gravitational
force.
1. Strong nuclear force.
This force is responsible for binding protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei. It is the
strongest of all the forces. It is an attractive force that acts only over very short distances (about 10-
15
m).
The particle that mediates the strong interaction is called gluon. Its mass is zero and has a
spin of one. Gluons are not observed since they remain hidden within particles confined by the
strong force. Its existence was confirmed indirectly. Particles that participate in the strong
interaction are called hadrons.
2. Electromagnetic force.
The electromagnetic force acts between charged particles and particles with electric and
magnetic moments. . It has an infinite range. Its strength is only 1/100 the strength of the strong
nuclear force. The electromagnetic force can be attractive or repulsive. The force between electric
charges is called electric force. The force exerted by magnets is called magnetic force. They are
collectively called electromagnetic force. Almost all nongravitational interactions are due to
electromagnetic interaction.
The electromagnetic force is the result of emission and absorption of virtual photons.
Photon is massless and has a spin of 1
3. Weak nuclear force.
The weak nuclear force acts over very short distances 10-15 m and are very weak. It is
roughly 106 the strength of the strong nuclear force. During the neutron decay to a proton, an
electron and antineutrino are also produced. The interaction between electron and antineutrino is
an example for the weak force.
According to electroweak theory the particle responsible for the weak interaction is called
the W particle. There are three versions of W particles. They are W and Z0. All have spin 1.
4. Gravitational force.
It is the weakest force in nature. It can act over infinitely large distances. But it is only 10 -
38
as strong as the strong nuclear force. In Newton’s classical theory of gravity, the force of gravity
varies as the product of the masses of the interacting particles and as the inverse square of the
distance between them. This force is an attractive in nature.
In modern theories of gravity, this force behavior is considered a special case for low-energy
macroscopic interactions. The particle that mediates the gravitational interaction is called graviton.
It must be massless. It travels with the speed of light. Graviton has a spin of 2
 Classifications of Elementary Particles
A large number of subatomic particles exist in nature. These particles can be classified in to
two based on the property of spin. They are fermions and bosons.
 Fermions
Particles with half-integer spin are called fermions. They include electrons, protons,
neutrons, and so on, They can be described by the Fermi-Dirac statistics. They obey the Pauli
Exclusion Principle. So, two identical fermions do not occupy the same quantum state
simultaneously.
Fermions are again classified into leptons and baryons
Bosons.
Particles with integer spin are called bosons. They include photons, pi mesons, and so on;
Bosons do not obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle. In other words, any number of bosons can occupy
the same quantum state. Behaviors of bosons are described by the Bose-Einstein statistics.
Bosons carry the energy and hence they are called energy carriers. Exchange of these force-
carrier particles results in the three fundamental forces of the nature. Every time a boson is
transferred with it a discrete amount of energy is also transferred
There bosons classified into two as Gauge Bosons and scalar boson (HIGGS BOSON)
Comparison of Fermions and Bosons

Fermions Bosons

Have half-integer spin Have zero or integer spin

Obeys Fermi-Dirac statistics Obeys Bose-Einstein statistics

Obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle Do not obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle

Considered as fundamental particles of matter Considered as energy carriers

Leptons
A lepton is an elementary particle of half-integer spin (spin 1⁄2) that does not undergo
strong interactions. There are 6 types of leptons in the standard model of particle physics. All these 6
types of leptons are classified into two classes; Charged leptons (ELECTRON, MUON, TAU) and
Neutral leptons (also called as neutrinos). (ELECTRON neutrino, MUON neutrino, TAU neutrino).
Each of the charged leptons has a negative charge of -1e and a distinct mass. Electrons are
the lightest leptons. They have a mass only 1/1840 that of a proton. Muons are heavier particles,
having more than 200 times as much mass as electrons. Taus are approximately 3,700 times more
massive than electrons.
Each charged lepton has an associated neutral partner, or neutrino. Neutral leptons
(ELECTRON neutrino, MUON neutrino, TAU neutrino), which has no charge and no significant mass.
All leptons have antiparticles called antileptons. The mass of the antileptons is identical to
that of the leptons, but all of the other properties are reversed.
The total number of leptons appears to remain the same in every particle reaction. That is
the total lepton number L (the number of leptons minus the number of antileptons) is constant.
Baryons
Baryons are heavy subatomic particles that are made up of three quarks. Both protons and
neutrons, as well as other particles, are baryons.
Baryons are characterized by a baryon number B of 1. Their antiparticles, called antibaryons
have a baryon number of −1. Baryons can be distinguished from one another by spin. The three
quarks that make up a baryon can only produce half-integer values.
Gauge bosons
Gauge Boson are the particle that carries the interaction of fundamental forces between
particles. All known Gauge Boson have spin 1 and therefore all Gauge Boson are vector. Gauge
boson is characterized into 5 categories.
•Gluons(g): That carries strong nuclear forces between matter particle.
•Photon( γ ): The particle of light that carries electromagnetic forces, which holds the electron in an
atom.
•W&Z Boson: It carries the week nuclear force, which involved in some form of radioactivity
•Graviton (G): The only hypothetical gauge boson that carries the gravitational force.
Scalar bosons
The only scalar boson which has been discovered is Higgs Boson. Higgs Boson is an
elementary particle in standard modal of particle physics. It is produced by quantum excitation of
higgs field (field in particle physics theory). It is the interaction with Higgs field which gives mass to
the particle
Quarks
Gell-Mann and Zweig proposed that hadrons are formed from fractionally charged particles
called quarks. Originally three quarks were proposed namely up(u), down(d) and strange(s) with
charges 2e/3, e/3 and e/3respectively. The strangeness value of strange quark is 1 and those of
other two quarks are zero.
From symmetry considerations, a fourth quark was proposed called charmed quark (c). It is
described by the new quantum number charm (C). The new quark would have value C = +1, while its
antiquark would have C = 1. Particle without the charmed quark have C = 0. Charm is conserved in
the strong and electromagnetic interactions.
Later the existence of the fifth and sixth quarks are postulated theoretically. These are
named top and bottom quarks. All quarks have spin ½.
The 6 types of quarks classified into 3 generations, each generation having a pair. The first
generation quarks include UP and DOWN, the second-generation quarks include CHARM and
STRANGE and the third generation quarks include TOP and BOTTOM.
First generation quarks are lightest and most stable, the weight of quarks increases and
stability decreases in the second and third generations.
Every quark has its own color and they combine in such a way to form colorless objects.
Classification of elementary particles based on mass
It is categorised in three groups: -

1.Leptons:
 Leptons means light weight. Leptons interact via weak nuclear force . All the elementary
particles which mass less then π-meson belongs to this category. All leptons spin half and they are
called fermions.
e.g. Electron, Neutrino, etc.
2.Meson:
The word meson means that middle mass particle. These have rest mass larger than μ-
meson are but less then proton. All the meson has zero or integral spin that’s why they are called as
boson. All mesons contain a quark and an antiquark
e.g. Pions(π+, π−,π0),Kaon(k+,k-,k0)
3.Baryons:
All the elementary particle which have rest mass equal to or greater then the mass of proton
are called as Baryons. These particles have half integral spin and hence they are Fermions. The
proton is the only stable baryon. All other baryons eventually decay into a proton. All baryons
contain three quarks.
e.g. Nucleons, Hyperons.
Note
Mesons are intermediate mass particles which are made up of a quark-antiquark pair. Three quark
combinations are called baryons. Mesons are bosons, while the baryons are fermions.
Mesons and baryons are collectively called hadrons
Hadrons
Hadrons are subatomic composite particles that are made of 2 or more quarks. These quarks
are held together by the strong interaction force. There are two types of hadron: the baryon,
comprised of three differently-coloured quarks and the meson, comprised of two quarks of one
colour and the same anti-colour.

Baryons Mesons

Baryons are made of an odd number of Mesons are made of an even number of
quarks. quarks.

Example – Protons, Neutrons Example – Pions, Kaons

A proton is composed of two ‘Up’ quarks and A pion is composed of one up quark and one
one ‘Down’ quark. down antiquark

A neutron is composed of one ‘Up’ quark and A kaon is composed of one up quark and one
two ‘Down’ quarks. strange antiquark.

Classification of elementary particles based on Interactions

Based on interactions, the elementary particles are frouped into three. They are gauge
bosons, leptons and hardons.
Gauge boson include gluons(g), photons( γ ) and W&Z particles. Leptons include electron, e-
neutrino, muon, -neutrino, tau and -neutrino.
Hadrons are divided into two categories. They are mesons and baryons. Meson family
consists of pions, kaones, etc. Baryons include protons and neutrons.
Symmetries
Three important symmetry operations in particle physics are parity, charge conjugation and
time reversal.
Parity describes the inversion symmetry of space. The parity operator changes x  x, y 
y and z  z. The parity is conserved in all strong and electromagnetic interactions.
The charge conjugation reverses the sign of the particles charge and magnetic moment. This
has the effect of interchanging all particles with their antiparticles. The parity is also conserved in all
strong and electromagnetic interactions.
The time reversal, reverses the sign of time, ie, t  t.
When both charge conjugation and parity operations are performed (called CP),
conservation is still valid. When all the three operations are performed (CPT), conservation holds.
Conservation Laws
1. Lepton Conservation
There are three types of leptons; the e-type, the -type and the -type. Each particle is
assigned a lepton number. The corresponding lepton numbers are denoted as Le, L and L. The
lepton numbers are as follows
Le = 1 for e and Le = 1 for e+ and Le = 0 for other particles
L = 1 for  and L = 1 for + and L = 0 for other particles
L = 1 for  and L = 1 for + and L = 0 for other particles
For any process, the lepton number for electron type leptons, muon type leptons and tau type
leptons must each remain constant.
eg. n  p + e + 
The value of L and L are 0 on both sides. On left hand side Le = 0 and on the right hand side
Le = 0+11 = 0. Hence Le is conserved.
2. Baryon Conservation
All baryons are assigned a baryon number B = +1, all antibaryons are assigned B = 1 and all
nonbaryons (mesons and leptons) are assigned B = 0. In any process the total baryon number must
remain constant.
eg. n  p + e + 
The baryon number on the left hand side is +1 while that on the right hand side is 1+ 0 + 0 =
1. Hence baryon number is conserved.
3. Strangeness
Certain particles, namely kaons(K), lamda particle () and sigma particle () were found to
behave strangely in two ways. Though they are produced via a strong interaction, they did not
decay at a rate characteristic of strong interaction. In addition these particles are always produced
in pairs. The unusual behavior of these strange particles led to a different type of conservation law.
The uncharged o and o mesons decay very rapidly into two photons. But Ko meson decays into 
mesons and leptons. The decay takes place much more slowly. The + meson decays into + and o
mesons within 1023 s. But another strongly interacting particle K+ mesons decays into + and o
mesons within 108 s.
 To explain such strange behavior of K and other mesons, a new quantum number called
strangeness is assigned to certain particles.
The kaons have S = +1, lamda and sigma baryons have S = 1, chi has S = 2 and the omega
has S = 3. Their antiparticle have the opposite sign for the S quantum number. The  mesons and
leptons are nonstrange particles with S = 0.
The conservation law states that in processes governed by the electromagnetic or strong
interactions the total strangeness must be conserved. The processes governed by the weak
interaction,the strangeness either remains constant or changes by one unit
4. Isospin (Isotopic spin)
It is a method of classifying particles that have similar mass and interaction properties. It
helps the classification of the strongly interacting particles, namely the mesons and baryons. In this
approach the nucleon is assigned an isospin I = ½. Its projection on z-axis gives two components Iz =
+ ½ or Iz =  ½. The positively charged state corresponds to proton and the neutral charged state.
The negatively charged state corresponds to the neutron. In the same way, pions with I = 1
constitute a charged riplet corresponding to Iz = +1, 0, 1. Iz = +1for the + meson, Iz = 0 for the
neutral meson and Iz = 1 for the  meson.
The conservation law for the isospin stated that the isospin is conserved in strong interaction
but not in electromagnetic interaction.
5. Hypercharge
The hypercharge quantum number Y, defined by
Y=B+S
Is conserved in strong interactions. Since hypercharge and strangeness are related, the
hypercharges and strangeness conservation laws hold for the electromagnetic and strong
interactions. However they are violated in cases of weak interactions.
Charm
Charm (symbol C) is a flavor quantum number presenting the difference between the
number of charm quarks and charm antiquarks that are present in a particle.
Flavor
In particle physics, flavour or flavor refers to the species of an elementary particle.
The Standard Model counts six flavours of quarks and six flavours of leptons. They are conventionally
parameterized with flavour quantum numbers that are assigned to all subatomic particles.
Cerenkov radiation
When a fast moving charged particle such as beta particle passes through a transparent
material such as glass, water, mica etc, at a speed greater than the speed of light in that medium, a
cone of light is emitted. The radiation emitted is known Cerekov radiation.
Light is emitted as the charged particle is retarded at each point as it travels through the
medium. In all material media such as water, glass etc, light travels more slowly than in air. If n is
the refractive index of the medium, velocity of light in the medium v is c/n.
When a charged particle moves with a speed greater than this, the particle moves through a
greater distance AB in a given interval of time t, where as the wavefront moves only though a
distance AD, always perpendicular to the wave front. So the wave front forms a cone at B with semi-
vertical angle  with the particle at its apex, as shown in the diagram. This is the angle at which the
intensity of radiation emitted is maximum.
 The carenkov radiation can be detected and the angle  can be measured experimentally.
From figure,
sin  = AD / AB
= (ct/v) (1/vt)
 sin  = (c/nv)
medium-and the angle  from experiment, the speed (v) of the
Knowing the refractive index n of the medium

(c/n) Wave front of cerenkov idiation

direction of charge

v-> particle speed

particle in the medium can be determined.

Cerenkov radiation is visible as a bluish glow when an intense beam of particle travels in the
medium. Thus, by Cerenkov effect, high energy charged particles can be detected.