Smallest subatomic particles
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Elementary Particles: The Smallest Subatomic Particles
At the most fundamental level, the smallest known subatomic particles are called elementary particles. These include quarks, leptons (such as electrons and neutrinos), and gauge bosons (such as photons and gluons). These particles are considered point-like, meaning they have no known internal structure or size, and are the building blocks of all matter and forces in the universe according to the Standard Model of particle physics 12.
Quarks, Leptons, and Gauge Bosons: Types of Smallest Particles
Quarks combine to form protons and neutrons, while leptons include familiar particles like the electron and the much lighter neutrino. Gauge bosons, such as photons and gluons, are responsible for carrying the fundamental forces of nature, like electromagnetism and the strong nuclear force 167. These particles are all considered elementary, meaning they are not made up of anything smaller, as far as current experiments can determine 12.
Theoretical Proposals and Hypothetical Particles
Some researchers have proposed new terms or hypothetical particles to describe even smaller or more fundamental entities. For example, the term "whit" has been suggested to mean "the smallest particle imaginable," though this is not a standard scientific term . Another proposal is the "tamaid," a hypothetical particle with a very small mass, but this idea has not been confirmed by experiments .
Particle Size and Quantum Properties
While elementary particles are often described as point-like, some theoretical models attempt to estimate their effective size based on their interactions or creation-annihilation processes. However, these sizes are extremely small and often beyond current experimental reach . In quantum mechanics, subatomic particles also display both wave-like and particle-like properties, which means their "size" can depend on how they are measured or observed 410.
Conclusion
The smallest subatomic particles known today are the elementary particles: quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons. These particles are considered point-like and indivisible by current scientific understanding. While there are theoretical ideas about even smaller or more fundamental particles, none have been experimentally confirmed. The study of these tiny building blocks continues to be a central focus in physics, as scientists seek to understand the universe at its most fundamental level 1267.
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