electron (changes) in nLab
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Context
Fields and quanta
fields and particles in particle physics
and in the standard model of particle physics:
matter field fermions (spinors, Dirac fields)
| flavors of fundamental fermions in the standard model of particle physics: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| generation of fermions | 1st generation | 2nd generation | 3d generation |
| quarks (qq) | |||
| up-type | up quark (uu) | charm quark (cc) | top quark (tt) |
| down-type | down quark (dd) | strange quark (ss) | bottom quark (bb) |
| leptons | |||
| charged | electron | muon | tauon |
| neutral | electron neutrino | muon neutrino | tau neutrino |
| bound states: | |||
| mesons | light mesons: pion (udu d) ρ-meson (udu d) ω-meson (udu d) f1-meson a1-meson | strange-mesons: ϕ-meson (ss¯s \bar s), kaon, K*-meson (usu s, dsd s) eta-meson (uu+dd+ssu u + d d + s s) charmed heavy mesons: | bottom heavy mesons: B-meson (qbq b) ϒ-meson (bb¯b \bar b) |
| baryons | nucleons: proton (uud)(u u d) neutron (udd)(u d d) |
(also: antiparticles)
hadrons (bound states of the above quarks)
minimally extended supersymmetric standard model
bosinos:
dark matter candidates
Exotica
Contents
Idea
The electron is one of the fundamental particles/matter fields in the standard model of particle physics, one of the leptons.
Mathematically, the electron is a quantum of a Dirac field.
In quantum electrodynamics the electron interacts with the photon via the electron-photon interaction.
Properties
-
the bound state of an electron…
… with a proton is a hydrogen atom
… with a positron is a positronium
-
the bound state of several electrons with a nucleus is an atom
-
the antiparticle of the electron is the positron
\linebreak
| flavors of fundamental fermions in the standard model of particle physics: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| generation of fermions | 1st generation | 2nd generation | 3d generation |
| quarks (qq) | |||
| up-type | up quark (uu) | charm quark (cc) | top quark (tt) |
| down-type | down quark (dd) | strange quark (ss) | bottom quark (bb) |
| leptons | |||
| charged | electron | muon | tauon |
| neutral | electron neutrino | muon neutrino | tau neutrino |
| bound states: | |||
| mesons | light mesons: pion (udu d) ρ-meson (udu d) ω-meson (udu d) f1-meson a1-meson | strange-mesons: ϕ-meson (ss¯s \bar s), kaon, K*-meson (usu s, dsd s) eta-meson (uu+dd+ssu u + d d + s s) charmed heavy mesons: | bottom heavy mesons: B-meson (qbq b) ϒ-meson (bb¯b \bar b) |
| baryons | nucleons: proton (uud)(u u d) neutron (udd)(u d d) |
References
The concept of intrinsic spin of thespin of the electron (making it a “spinor”) originates with:
- Samuel A. Goudsmit, George E. Uhlenbeck: Ersetzung der Hypothese vom unmechanischen Zwang durch eine Forderung bezüglich des inneren Verhaltens jedes einzelnen Elektrons, Naturwissenschaften 13 47 (1925) 953 [, pdf]
Historical recollection:
-
Samuel A. Goudsmit, The discovery of the electron spin, in: Foundations of Modern EPR, World Scientific (1998) [[pdf](https://www.ifsc.usp.br/~laf/quantica1/goudsmit_discovery_of_spin.pdf), webpage, doi:10.1142/3624]
-
Richard G. Milner, A Short History of Spin , [[arXiv:1311.5016](https://arxiv.org/abs/1311.5016)&rbrackProceedings of PSTP2013, POS 182 (2014) [[arXiv:1311.5016](https://arxiv.org/abs/1311.5016), doi:10.22323/1.182.0003]
Last revised on October 22, 2023 at 13:06:15. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.