BlogClan Tavern

Todays topic is just basically explaining the Standard Model and what it is. I am free to answer questions in the comments (I could ramble on all day if society let me).

The Standard Model is governed by the Four Fundamental Forces of Nature (gravity, the electromagnetic force, the strong force, and the weak force), excluding gravity. The electromagnetic force is responsible for processes such as chemical reactions, attraction between magnetic poles, and light and electricity. The strong force is responsible for bounding quarks within the atomic nuclei. The weak force is responsible for beta decay, and gravity, is. . . well. . . gravity.

All the matter around us is made of elementary particles, which are categorized into two groups, quarks and leptons. Quarks are the particles that make up other particles, such as the neutrons and protons that make up atoms. Leptons are particles like electrons and neutrinos. Each of these groups contain six particles, which are related in pairs, like the up quark and the down quark. Quarks also come in different ‘colors’ or ‘flavors’, which are red, green, and blue, and mix in ways to form objects (as explained in quantum chromodynamics). These objects can be a particle such as a neutron, which consists of three quarks (two down and one up). Inside the neutron, the quarks are bound by gluons, which are a type of boson particle and the carrier of the strong force, which I will explain soon. Leptons, like the electron and the neutrino, are involved in processes such as the formation of atoms and beta decay.

On the other paw, there are boson particles. These do not make up the matter we see every day, but are the ‘carriers’ of different forces. For example, we have the photon, which carries the electromagnetic force, the W and Z bosons, which carry the weak force, and the gluon, which carries the strong force. No one knows which particle carries the gravitational force, but it is hypothesized to be the graviton. Gravity is also the only force to not be included within the Standard Model, as it would be too difficult to fit in because the theories of relativity do not function in the subatomic world. There is one more boson I would like to mention, and it is also my favorite to study. This is the Higgs boson, a particle first hypothesized by Peter Higgs and a few others in 1964 to explain why only certain particles have mass. For example, the W and Z bosons have some of the highest masses, while another boson, the photon, has no mass at all. The Higgs boson was formally discovered at CERN in July, 2012, and put the final framework together for the Higgs Mechanism, which explains how particles interact with a quantum field called the Higgs field, which permeates the entire universe. Some particles interact with the field more than others, giving them their higher mass. I will explain this more in-depth in a later post.

Though the Standard Model is so far the best model to explain the subatomic world, there are some questions that still remain unanswered. Such as why is there more matter than antimatter, and what is dark matter (a type of matter that is responsible for 85% of the universe’s mass, but yet we cannot see it, nor do we know what it is made off).

Welp, that is it for today. If you are one of the few people out there who enjoyed the rambling, I am happy to answer questions. If there is anything I have left out / or is incorrect information, PLEASE let me know.