W Boson Particles

W Boson Particles

Subject : Science & Tech

Section: Basic Science

Context- W boson mass measurement surprises physicists. The Higgs boson mass allowed physicists to infer that the mass of the W boson would be 80,357±6 MeV.2.

Concept-

• In particle physics, the W and Z bosons are vector bosons that are together known as the weak bosons or more generally as the intermediate vector bosons.
• These elementary particles mediate the weak interaction; the respective symbols are W+, W−, and Z0.
• The W± bosons have either a positive or negative electric charge of 1 elementary charge and are each other’s antiparticles. The Z0 boson is electrically neutral and is its own antiparticle.
• All three of these particles are very short-lived, with a half-life of about 3×10−25 s.
• Their experimental discovery was pivotal in establishing what is now called the Standard Model of particle physics.
• These bosons are among the heavyweights of the elementary particles. With masses of 80.4 GeV/c2 and 91.2 GeV/c2, respectively, the W and Z bosons are almost 80 times as massive as the proton – heavier, even, than entire iron atoms.
• The W± bosons are best known for their role in nuclear decay. Consider, for example, the beta decay of cobalt-60.

What is Higgs Boson?

• In 2012, the Nobel-winning discovery of the Higgs boson(also known as ‘God particle’) validated the Standard Model of physics, which also predicts that about 60% of the time a Higgs boson will decay to a pair of bottom quarks.
• In 1960s Peter Higgs was the first person to suggest that this particle might exist.
• The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory which describes three of the four known fundamental forces (the electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions, and not including the gravitational force) in the universe, as well as classifies all known elementary particles.
• Scientists do not yet know how to combine gravity with the Standard Model.
• The Higgs particle is a boson.
• Bosons are thought to be particles which are responsible for all physical forces.
• Other known bosons are the photon, the W and Z bosons, and the gluon.

Boson:

• In particle physics, a boson is a subatomic particle whose spin quantum number has an integer value.
• Bosons form one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particle, the other being fermions, which have odd half-integer spin
• Every observed subatomic particle is either a boson or a fermion.