Beyond Matter: The Particles That Carry Force
How the elementary particles of the Standard Model govern both force and mass
Represented on the Standard Model of Particle Physics, Bosons are force carrier particles. Just like how Fermions are responsible for creating and building all matter on Earth, Bosons are responsible for carrying the fundamental forces, the Strong Nuclear Force, Weak Nuclear Force, Electromagnetic Force and Gravity. There are different types of Bosons, and each one is responsible for carrying a specific fundamental force.
Types of Bosons and the forces they carry
Bosons are split into 2 categories. The Gauge Bosons, and the Higgs Boson which has its own category.
There are 5 different types of Bosons. The Photon, W boson, Z boson, Gluon and the Higgs Boson. The Photon, W boson, Z boson and Gluon are all Gauge Bosons, and the Higgs Boson goes into its own special category.
The Photon carries the Electromagnetic Force, the W boson and Z boson carry the Weak Force, the Gluon carries the Strong Force, and the Higgs Boson doesn’t carry any force. In this way, the Higgs Boson is unique. This is the particle associated with the Higgs Field, which is the giver of mass to all particles with mass. The more they interact with the field, the more mass they gain - whereas particles like Photons zip right through, given that they are massless. The Higgs Boson’s job is to give more mass to other particles that have mass.
Scientists proposed that the particle that carries Gravity is a hypothetical particle, called the Graviton.
The Future of Quantum Depends on You
After the major discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012, by CERN, there have been many more discoveries in Quantum, such as Time Crystals. This pattern cannot be broken. It’s our job to continue researching, and learning more about Bosons and the Quantum world. We need to keep up this trend of new major discoveries, and by learning more, we can unravel more mysteries and uncover more concepts.
There are so many things we know about quantum, yet so much we don’t. Now, it’s your turn to showcase your quantum capabilities, and revolutionize the field.