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Standard Model - ATLAS Physics Cheat Sheet

The Standard Model classifies all fundamental particles as either bosons or fermions based on their intrinsic spin property and introduces the rules for interactions between particles. Bosons mediate forces between particles by being exchanged, with each force associated with a specific boson. Fermions make up matter and are divided into quarks and leptons. While the Standard Model has been experimentally verified with high precision, it is known to be incomplete and new physics may be found by searching for deviations from its predictions.

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Fernando Itri
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113 views

Standard Model - ATLAS Physics Cheat Sheet

The Standard Model classifies all fundamental particles as either bosons or fermions based on their intrinsic spin property and introduces the rules for interactions between particles. Bosons mediate forces between particles by being exchanged, with each force associated with a specific boson. Fermions make up matter and are divided into quarks and leptons. While the Standard Model has been experimentally verified with high precision, it is known to be incomplete and new physics may be found by searching for deviations from its predictions.

Uploaded by

Fernando Itri
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE STANDARD MODEL

The Standard Model (SM) is a theory which classifies all fundamental particles based on their properties,
and introduces rules that determine which interactions between them can occur and at what rate. The SM
has been verified experimentally with high precision by particle-physics experiments, but physicists are still
looking for measurements that could show deviations from SM predictions, and point the way to new physics.

BOSONS AND FERMIONS


There are two main groups of particles in the Standard Model: bosons and fermions. This classification is based
on an intrinsic property called spin, which, for elementary particles, can take the value 0, ½ or 1. Particles with
integer spin (0, 1) are bosons, while those with half-integer spin (½) are fermions. Fermions and bosons act
differently in interactions.

FORCE MEDIATORS
An interaction between particles can be viewed as the exchange of a boson. Therefore, the spin-1 bosons
in the SM are called “force mediators”. Each boson is responsible for mediating a specific force: the photon
carries the electromagnetic force, the gluons the strong nuclear force, and the W and Z bosons the weak
nuclear force. Each force has an associated charge which particles must have in order to participate in that
interaction: electric charge for the electromagnetic force, colour charge for the strong force, and weak
charge for the weak force. If a boson carries the charge corresponding to the force it mediates (which is
the case for the gluons as well as the W and Z bosons), then it can interact with itself.

MATTER PARTICLES
The fermions are the particles that make
up matter and are separated into two cat-
egories: quarks and leptons. The main dif-
ference is that quarks have colour charge,
whereas leptons do not. This means that
quarks can interact with gluons through
the strong force. Both quarks and charged
leptons can interact via the electromag-
netic and weak forces. There are three
generations of quarks and leptons, where
particles in different generations have
similar properties but differ in mass. For
example, the top quark (third generation)
is about 80,000 times more massive than
the up quark (first generation). For each
of these particles, there exists a matching
antiparticle with opposite charges.

THE HIGGS BOSON


The Higgs boson is unique because it is the only known elementary spin-0 particle. The field associated
with the Higgs boson is responsible for the masses of other fundamental particles. All particles which in-
teract with this field have mass, with more massive particles interacting more strongly. The discovery of
the Higgs boson in 2012 by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations was the last piece of evidence needed to
confirm the SM.

BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL


Even though no deviation from the SM has been observed so far, we know that it is incomplete, with gravity and
dark matter being the main missing pieces. There are also many other questions that cannot be answered with
the current SM, such as why there is more matter than antimatter in the Universe. For these reasons, many
theories Beyond the Standard Model are currently being investigated by physicists in an attempt to modify or
extend our picture of the SM.

https://atlas.cern

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