Bosons may be either elementary, like photons, or composite, like mesons.

While most bosons are composite particles, in the Standard Model there are five
bosons which are elementary:
the four gauge bosons (? g Z W)
the only scalar boson (the Higgs boson (H0))
Additionally, the graviton (G) is a hypothetical elementary particle not incorpo
rated in the Standard Model. If it exists, a graviton must be a boson, and could
conceivably be a gauge boson.
Composite bosons are important in superfluidity and other applications of Bose Ein
stein condensates. When a gas of Bose particles is cooled to temperatures very c
lose to absolute zero its kinetic energy decreases up to a negligible amount the
n the particles would condense into the lowest energy state. This phenomenon is
known as Bose-Einstein condensation and it is believed that this phenomenon is t
he secret behind superfluidity of liquids.
Properties[edit]
Symmetric wavefunction for a (bosonic) 2-particle state in an infinite square we
ll potential.
Bosons differ from fermions, which obey Fermi Dirac statistics. Two or more identi
cal fermions cannot occupy the same quantum state (see Pauli exclusion principle
).
Since bosons with the same energy can occupy the same place in space, bosons are
often force carrier particles. Fermions are usually associated with matter (alt
hough in quantum physics the distinction between the two concepts is not clear c
ut).
Bosons are particles which obey Bose Einstein statistics: when one swaps two boson
s (of the same species), the wavefunction of the system is unchanged.[11] Fermio
ns, on the other hand, obey Fermi Dirac statistics and the Pauli exclusion princip
le: two fermions cannot occupy the same quantum state, resulting in a "rigidity"
or "stiffness" of matter which includes fermions. Thus fermions are sometimes s
aid to be the constituents of matter, while bosons are said to be the particles
that transmit interactions (force carriers), or the constituents of radiation. T
he quantum fields of bosons are bosonic fields, obeying canonical commutation re
lations.
The properties of lasers and masers, superfluid helium-4 and Bose Einstein condens
ates are all consequences of statistics of bosons. Another result is that the sp
ectrum of a photon gas in thermal equilibrium is a Planck spectrum, one example
of which is black-body radiation; another is the thermal radiation of the opaque
early Universe seen today as microwave background radiation. Interactions betwe
en elementary particles are called fundamental interactions. The fundamental int
eractions of virtual bosons with real particles result in all forces we know.
All known elementary and composite particles are bosons or fermions, depending o
n their spin: particles with half-integer spin are fermions; particles with inte
ger spin are bosons. In the framework of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, this
is a purely empirical observation. However, in relativistic quantum field theor
y, the spin statistics theorem shows that half-integer spin particles cannot be bo
sons and integer spin particles cannot be fermions.[12]
In large systems, the difference between bosonic and fermionic statistics is onl
y apparent at large densities when their wave functions overlap. At low densities,
both types of statistics are well approximated by Maxwell Boltzmann statistics, w
hich is described by classical mechanics.
Elementary bosons[edit]
Standard Model of particle physics
CERN LHC Tunnel1.jpg
Large Hadron Collider tunnel at CERN
Background[show]
Constituents[show]
Limitations[show]
Scientists[show]
v t e

See also: List of particles Bosons

All observed elementary particles are either fermions or bosons. The observed el
ementary bosons are all gauge bosons: photons, W and Z bosons, gluons, except th
e Higgs boson which is a scalar boson.
Photons are the force carriers of the electromagnetic field.
W and Z bosons are the force carriers which mediate the weak force.
Gluons are the fundamental force carriers underlying the strong force.
Higgs bosons give W and Z bosons mass via the Higgs mechanism. Their existence w
as confirmed by CERN on 14 March 2013.
Finally, many approaches to quantum gravity postulate a force carrier for gravit
y, the graviton, which is a boson of spin plus or minus two.
Composite bosons[edit]
See also: List of particles: Composite particles
Composite particles (such as hadrons, nuclei, and atoms) can be bosons or fermio
ns depending on their constituents. More precisely, because of the relation betw
een spin and statistics, a particle containing an even number of fermions is a b
oson, since it has integer spin.
Examples include the following:
Any meson, since mesons contain one quark and one antiquark.
The nucleus of a carbon-12 atom, which contains 6 protons and 6 neutrons.
The helium-4 atom, consisting of 2 protons, 2 neutrons and 2 electrons.
The number of bosons within a composite particle made up of simple particles bou
nd with a potential has no effect on whether it is a boson or a fermion.
To which states can bosons crowd?[edit]
Bose Einstein statistics encourages identical bosons to crowd into one quantum sta
te, but not any state is necessarily convenient for it. Aside of statistics, bos
ons can interact
for example, helium-4 atoms are repulsed by intermolecular forc
e on a very close approach, and if one hypothesizes their condensation in a spat
ially-localized state, then gains from the statistics cannot overcome a prohibit
ive force potential. A spatially-delocalized state (i.e. with low |??(x)?|) is p
referable: if the number density of the condensate is about the same as in ordin
ary liquid or solid state, then the repulsive potential for the N-particle conde
nsate in such state can be no higher than for a liquid or a crystalline lattice
of the same N particles described without quantum statistics. Thus, Bose Einstein
statistics for a material particle is not a mechanism to bypass physical restric
tions on the density of the corresponding substance, and superfluid liquid heliu
m has the density comparable to the density of ordinary liquid matter. Spatially
-delocalized states also permit for a low momentum according to uncertainty prin
ciple, hence for low kinetic energy; this is why superfluidity and superconducti
vity are usually observed in low temperatures.
Photons do not interact with themselves and hence do not experience this differe
nce in states where to crowd (see squeezed coherent state).
See also[edit]
Anyon
Bose gas
Identical particles
Parastatistics
Fermion