Q U A N T U M PA R T I C L E S

T Y P E S O F PA R T I C L E S

Hadron

Group of quarks that can be subdivided into Mesons and Baryons

Meson

Quark-Antiquark Pairs such as Pions and Kaons

Baryon

Triad of Quarks such as Protons and Neutrons

Lepton

The second type of building block of matter (along with quarks)

such as electrons, muons, tau particles, and neutrinos
C O N S E R V AT I O N L A W S

Conservation of Energy - particles have energy that is

conserved

Conservation of Charge - particles have charge that is

conserved

Conservation of Momentum - particles may collide

and momentum is conserved

Conservation of Angular Momentum - particles have

spin and angular momentum is conserved
C O N S E R V AT I O N L A W S

Conservation of Baryon Number

In reactions, Baryon number is always conserved

where hadrons have a Baryon number of +1 and non
hadrons have a Baryon number

All important quarks have a Baryon number of +1/3

Conservation of Lepton Number

Is the quantity that refers to the number of Leptons

and is conserved in reactions
C O N S E R V AT I O N L A W S

Strangeness

Refers to strange quark content in a given baryon

Is conserved in strong and electromagnetic interactions

but not in weak interactions

Up quarks and down quarks have a strangeness of 0

Strange quarks have a strangeness of -1 while strange

antiquarks have a strangeness of 1

Parity and Isospin

PA R T I C L E R E A C T I O N S

Leptons attract baryons and together, they form an

atom

Baryons repel each other

F U N D A M E N TA L F O R C E S
Strong Nuclear Forces
is responsible for holding protons and neutrons together in the
nucleus and is responsible for 98% of nuclear mass

Only affects Hadrons by holding them together in the nucleus of

an atom

Weak Nuclear Forces

can convert protons to neutrons and neutrons to protons and at

the same time, emit positrons, electrons, and neutrinos from the
nucleus

in effect, it is responsible for all forms of decay (alpha, beta,

gamma)

affects all particles

F U N D A M E N TA L F O R C E S
Electromagnetic Force

holds electrons (a lepton) in place around the

nucleus and only affects charged particles therefore
quark-antiquark pairs and neutrons are not affected

Gravity

force of attraction between two masses (hadrons

have mass and are affected by gravity), however this
force can be considered insignificant

In summary, the closer particles are to each other, the

stronger the forces act on them
E X C H A N G E PA R T I C L E S
Are essentially particles exchanged by two hadrons and two leptons
or one lepton and one hadron when a force acts upon the two

These exchange particles are called gauge bosons

There are 4 types of bosons

1. Photon - exchanged in electromagnetic interactions

2. Gluon - exchanged in strong force interactions

3. +- w - exchanged in weak force interactions

4. z - exchanged in weak force interactions

*graviton (undiscovered) - theoretically exchanged in gravity
FEYNMAN DIAGRAMS
Feynman diagrams illustrates how exchange particles
interact with hadrons and leptons when affected by a
force

Most important to take note of in drawing a Feynman

diagram is the time axis which goes from the bottom to
the top

After taking note of this, the particles should also be

taken note of and these are labelled by the symbols
that denote them

Bosons are then denoted by squiggly lines

FEYNMAN DIAGRAMS

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