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Date > 2024 > August
Activity > Quantum Mechanics | Learning

Quantum Mechanics Learning

Series: Quantum Mechanics

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Standard Model of Particle Physics August 5, 2024

Standard Model of Particle Physics

Ask AI
While reading, I came across a sentence mentioning 'elementary particles'. I know what a particle is, but what is an elementary particle? I asked ChatGPT/Gemini. It started a deep dive into particle physics. I was stoked to learn that the Periodic Table is already obsolete and has now been replaced by the Standard Model. The building blocks of reality are elementary particles - much smaller than atoms in orders of magnitude.

The Standard Model
The Standard Model of particle physics is a well-established theory that describes all known elementary particles, their interactions and behavior - except gravity. It has been extremely successful in explaining the 3 forces that exist in nature - electromagnetism, weak and strong nuclear force (again, not gravity). It gave precise predictions of the existence of particles that were later discovered - like the Higgs Boson, discovered in 2012. This has been the bible of particle physics for the last 40 years. Even though the Standard Model accounts for all the particles we know, it only represents around 5% of the universe. The rest is made up of Dark Matter and Dark Energy. We know they exist, but we don't know anything about them except that they don't interact with matter.

As comprehensive as it is, it has some serious limitations. It cannot explain gravity, dark matter and dark energy. To be able to explain the missing parts, more particles need to be discovered. To do this, we have to smash them using the particle accelerators - like the LHC (Large Hadron Particle Collider).

ATOMS >> PROTONS/NEUTRONS >> QUARKS >> STRINGS (?)

Standard Model of Particle Physics
The Standard Model is precise and accurate. It explains the behavior of all particles (except gravity). It has been tested many times with predictable results.

What are Elementary Particles?
Before, the popular thinking was that atoms were the smallest particles that could exist in nature. Then it was discovered that inside atoms are protons and neutrons - its nucleus. These became the smallest particles known to be the building blocks of reality. Then it was learned in 1968 that protons are made up of elementary particles like quarks. Based on the latest studies in particle physics, the most fundamental building blocks of matter and energy (reality as we know it) are the elementary particles and they are represented in the Standard Model.

  1. Elementary particles
    1. Fermions - particles that generate mass
      1. Quarks - Up quark, Down quark, Charm quark, Strange quark, Top quark, Bottom quark. Quarks combine to form Hadron like Protons and Neutrons, the nucleus of an atom.
      2. Leptons -
        1. Electrons - they orbit an atom's nucleus
        2. Muon -
        3. Tau -
        4. Electron Neutrino - neutrinos are very hard to detect, they don't interact with matter, they have very little mass, they can change their state (flavors) as they travel from Electron Neutrino to Tau Neutrino and to Muon Neutrino. They are significant because they seem to be the bridge to Dark Matter
        5. Tau Neutrino -
        6. Muon Neutrino -
    2. Bozons - particles that carry energy
      1. Photon - this is what we see as visible light in the electromagnetic spectrum
      2. Gluon - carries the strong nuclear force
      3. X and Z Bozon - carry the weak nuclear force as measured in radioactive decay
      4. Higgs Bozon - the God Particle, discovered only in 2012
      5. Graviton - this is speculative and hasn't been observed

String Theory and the Standard Model
So far, the Standard Model is the most fundamental building block of nature - nothing is smaller. Even if an elementary particle is magnified to the size of Earth, it will not reveal any inside structure. It will remain a point-like particle.

There are a few theoretical frameworks that might change this thinking. String Theory posits that the building blocks of nature are string-like energies called String. Strings are infinitesimally smaller than elementary particles. If a quark was magnified to the size of planet Earth, a String would be the size of an atom. This is practically the size of a Planck Scale. Beyond Planck Scale, everything we know about physics does not apply. No one knows what lies beyond Planck Scale.

Supersymmetry
Supersymmetry is another theoretical framework that hopes to extend or expand the Standard Model. It suggests that every particle in the Standard Model has a super partner particle that has a different spin - for every fermion particle, there is a corresponding Bozon particle. e.g. for every electron (a Fermion), there is a selectron (a Bozon).

What can Exist
Particle physics does not only explain what is existing, but also predicts what can possibly exist given what's known in the present.

Ending Thoughts
Okay, at the end of the day, I can say I know a little about elementary particles and how it ties up with String Theory, Supersymmetry, and Dark matter. And then what? Nothing really. It just fuels my curiosity at how the sub-atomic world functions and behaves in a world so alien from our reality...but the same laws of physics still govern all these worlds.

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