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PHYS3001: Atoms, Photons and Fundamental Particles > 9. The Standard Model of Particle Physics > Flashcards

9. The Standard Model of Particle Physics Flashcards

1
Q

What theory is used to describe the electromagnetic and weak interaction in the standard model?

A

The electroweak theory

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2
Q

What theory us used to describe strong interactions in the standard model?

A

Quantum chromodynamics (QCD)

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3
Q

What are the basic constituents of matter?

A

Quarks and leptons

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4
Q

What is the spin of a quark?

A

1/2

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5
Q

What is the spin of a lepton?

A

1/2

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6
Q

Quarks come in _ flavours and _ colours.

A

6
3

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7
Q

What are the 6 flavours of quark?

A

Up
Down
Strange
Charm
Top
Bottom

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8
Q

Leptons come in _ types.

A

6

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9
Q

How do quarks and leptons interact?

A

Via the spin-1 (gauge) boson

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10
Q

Quarks and leptons are subdivided into _ generations based on ____.

A

3
Mass

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11
Q

What are the 4 fundamental forces?

A
  • Gravity
  • Weak nuclear
  • Electromagnetic
  • Strong nuclear
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12
Q

How do the 4 fundamental forces act?

A

By the exchange particles (or force carriers) associated with them.

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13
Q

Which of the 4 fundamental forces is not part of the standard model? Why?

A

Gravity as it doesn’t have a quantum theory

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14
Q

Rank the 4 fundamental forces from weakest to strongest

A
  1. Gravity
  2. Weak force
  3. Electromagnetism
  4. Strong force
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15
Q

What does gravity act between?

A

All objects with mass

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16
Q

What does the weak force do?

A

It governs particle decay

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17
Q

What does electromagnetism act between?

A

Electrically charged particles

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18
Q

What does the strong force do?

A

Binds quarks together

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19
Q

Which particles experience gravity?

A

All particles with mass

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20
Q

Which particles experience the weak force?

A

Quarks and leptons

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21
Q

Which particles experience electromagnetism?

A

Electrically charged particles

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22
Q

Which particles experience the strong force?

A

Quarks and gluons

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23
Q

What is the force carrier particle for gravity?

A

Graviton (not yet observed)

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24
Q

What is the force carrier particle for the weak force?

A

W+, W-, Z0 (W and Z)

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25
Q

What is the force carrier particle for electromagnetism?

A

γ (photon)

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26
Q

What is the force carrier particle for the strong force?

A

g (gluon)

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27
Q

What is the range of gravity?

A

Infinite

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28
Q

What is the range of the weak force?

A

Short range

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29
Q

What is the range of electromagnetism?

A

Infinite

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30
Q

What is the range of the strong force?

A

Short range

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31
Q

What is a gluon?

A

A massless force carrier particle with a property called colour confinement.

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32
Q

What does gravity give rise to?

A
  • Newton’s Law
  • General relativity
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33
Q

Give the equation for Newton’s law of gravity

A

F = force
G = gravitational constant
M = mass 1
m = mass 2
r = separation distance

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34
Q

What spin does the (hypothetical) graviton have?

A

2

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35
Q

What mass does the (hypothetical) graviton have?

A

0

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36
Q

Where is the weak nuclear force most commonly seen?

A

Nuclear beta decay

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37
Q

_____________ only interact via the weak force.

A

Neutrino’s

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38
Q

What spin do gauge bosons (W and Z) have?

A

1

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39
Q

What mass do gauge bosons (W and Z) have?

A

Large mass: ~80 GeV/c²

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40
Q

Give the equation that describes how the weak force varies with distance

A

q = charge
r = separation distance
M_W = gauge boson mass

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41
Q

What does electromagnetism give rise to?

A

The Coulomb force

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42
Q

Give the equation for the Coulomb force

A

F = force
K = constant
q = charge
r = separation distance

43
Q

What is electromagnetism governed by?

A

Maxwell’s laws

44
Q

What is the spin of a photon?

45
Q

What is the mass of a photon?

46
Q

A photon is a type of _____ _____.

A

Gauge boson

47
Q

What is the purpose of the strong nuclear force?

A

To keep nucleons bound

48
Q

Nucleons are made up of ______.

49
Q

What is the spin of a gluon?

50
Q

What is the mass of a gluon

51
Q

Why doesn’t the strong nuclear force have infinite range?

A

Because quarks and gluons carry a type of charge called colour so are limited to short range by colour confinement.

52
Q

What spin do fermions have?

53
Q

Do fermions obey the Pauli exclusion principle?

54
Q

State the 2 main types of fermions

A
  • Leptons
  • Baryons (electrons, neutrinos, protons, neutrons)
55
Q

The fermion wavefunction is ___________ under the exchange of two identical particles.

A

Anti-symmetric

56
Q

What spin do bosons have?

57
Q

Give one example of a type of boson

A

Force carriers

58
Q

The boson wavefunction is _________ under the exchange of two identical particles.

59
Q

Are all particles in the standard model identical?

60
Q

Define quantum field theory

A

The theory that there is one field for each particle for the entire universe. Particles are (quantized) excitations of this field.

61
Q

Are leptons bosons or fermions?

62
Q

What are the 6 flavours of lepton?

A

First generation: electron (e) and electron neutrino (v_e)
Second generation: muon (µ) and muon neutrino (v_µ)
Third generation: tau (τ) and tau neutrino (τ)

63
Q

What is the charge of an electron?

64
Q

What is the charge of an electron neutrino?

65
Q

What is the charge of a muon?

66
Q

What is the charge of a muon neutrino?

67
Q

What is the charge of a tau particle?

68
Q

What is the charge of a tau neutrino?

69
Q

Which is heaviest: the electron, the muon, or the tau particle?

A
  1. Tau
  2. Muon
  3. Electron
70
Q

Are quarks bosons or fermions?

71
Q

What is the charge of a down quark?

72
Q

What is the charge of a charm quark?

72
Q

What is the charge of an up quark?

72
Q

What is the charge of a bottom quark?

73
Q

What is the charge of a strange quark?

74
Q

What is the charge of a top quark?

75
Q

Sort the 6 quark flavours into generations

A

First generation: d, u
Second generation: s, c
Third generation: b, t

76
Q

What are the 3 colours of quark?

A

Red, green, blue

77
Q

Why can’t free quarks be observed?

A

Because coloured objects cannot be observed.

78
Q

What are the two types of colourless states?

A

Baryons: states with 3 quarks of each of the different colours (red + green + blue = white = colourless)
Mesons: states with 2 quarks with a colour-anticolour quark pair (red+anti-red = colourless)

79
Q

Which generation of leptons and quarks is most common in nature? Why?

A

First generation because they are lightest

80
Q

What charge do gluons have?

81
Q

What charge do photons have?

82
Q

What charge do W± force carriers have?

83
Q

What charge do Z0 force carriers have?

84
Q

Gluons, photons, W±, and Z0 force carriers are spin-_ _______.

85
Q

What force do gluons mediate?

A

Strong nuclear

86
Q

What force do photons mediate?

A

Electromagnetism

87
Q

What force do W± force carriers mediate?

A

Weak nuclear

88
Q

What force do Z0 force carriers mediate?

A

Weak nuclear

89
Q

Describe the Higgs Boson (H0)

A

It is the only spin-0 boson in the standard model. It has no electric or colour charge. Its purpose is to allow W and Z bosons (and other fermions) to acquire mass via the Higgs mechanism.

90
Q

What is the mass of the Higgs Boson?

A

125 GeV/c²

91
Q

All particles have ____-_________ with opposite charge and baryon/lepton/colour/quark flavour number.

A

Anti-particles

92
Q

What are hadrons?

A

Particles composed of quarks

93
Q

What are the two types of hadron?

A
  • Baryons
  • Mesons
94
Q

How many quarks to baryons have?

95
Q

Give 2 examples of baryons

A
  • Protons
  • Neutrons
96
Q

________ are the only stable baryon.

97
Q

How many quarks do mesons have?

A

2 as a quark/anti-quark pair

98
Q

Are there any stable mesons?

A

No, they quickly decay into leptons and photons

99
Q

Give 2 examples of mesons

100
Q

State the 3 types of pion

101
Q

State the 3 types of kaon

PHYS3001: Atoms, Photons and Fundamental Particles (11 decks)

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