> > > > Nah. Most of us live in the Unified Field. Though I do get
> pissed at some those bozons flying around.
> > >
> > > Bozons. Are they the particles that always laugh, never cry?
> >
> > Have no idea what kind of particles "bozons" are.
> > (Yup, I know...)
> >
> > boson (bÆson), n. Physics.
> > any particle that obeys Bose-Einstein statistics: bosons have
> > integral spins: 0, 1, 2,
Cf. fermion.
> > [194550; named after S. N. Bose (18941974), Indian physicist;
> see -
> > ON1]
>
> Thanks, Card. Yes, bosons I had heard of, but not (till yesterday)
> bozons... :-)
Bosons are one of the two fundmental particles in nature, and a
fundamental to explaining the four fundamental forces -- and are thus
key to a Unified Field Theory. And Bosons are the core of high
coherence phenomenon such as lasers and super fluid helium.
Bozons was a play on words to fit the quip.
All fundamental particles in nature can be divided into one of two
categories, Fermions or Bosons.
Fermion Examples: electrons, protons, neutrons, quarks, neutrinos
Boson Examples: photons, 4He atoms, gluons
Bosons have intrinsic angular momenta in integral units of h/(2p). For
instance the spin of a photon is either +1 or -1 and the spin of a 4He
atom is always zero. Many bosons can occupy a single quantum state.
This allows them to behave collectively and is responsible for the
behavior of lasers and superfluid helium. Only one fermion can exist
in a given quantum state. This is known as the Pauli exclusion
principle which is the subject of the next page.
Any object which is comprised of an even number of fermions is a
boson, while any particle which is comprised of an odd number of
fermions is a fermion. For example, a proton is made of three quarks,
hence it is a fermion. A 4He atom is made of 2 protons, 2 neutrons and
2 electrons, hence it is a boson.
Bosons are also the only particles which can occupy the same state as
another.
All elementary particles are either bosons or fermions.
Gauge bosons are elementary particles which act as the carriers of the
fundamental forces such as the W vector bosons of the weak force, the
gluons of the strong force, the photons of the electromagnetic force,
and the graviton of the gravitational force.
Particles composed of a number of other particles (such as protons or
nuclei) can be either fermions or bosons, depending on their total
spin. Hence, many nuclei are in fact bosons.
While fermions obey the Pauli exclusion principle: "no more than one
fermion can occupy a single quantum state", there is no exclusion
property for bosons, which are free to (and indeed, other things being
equal, tend to) crowd into the same quantum state. Large numbers of
bosonic atoms can collapse into the same quantum ground state in a
process known as Bose-Einstein condensation. This explains the
spectrum of black-body radiation and the operation of lasers, the
properties of superfluid helium-4 and the possibility of bosons to
form Bose-Einstein condensates, a particular state of matter.
It is important to note that Bose-Einstein condensation occurs only at
ultralow temperature. There is nothing exotic about bosons otherwise.
At any reasonable temperatures, both the boson and fermion particles
behave as classical particles, i.e. particle in a box, and follow the
Maxwell-Boltzmann Statistics.
Examples of bosons:
* Helium-4 atoms
* Sodium-23 atoms
* Any nuclei with integer spins
* photons, which mediate the electromagnetic force
* W and Z bosons, which mediate the weak nuclear force
* gluons
* Higgs bosons
* phonons
Each quark carries one of the three types of "strong charge," also
called "color charge." These charges have nothing to do with the
colors of visible light. There are eight possible types of color
charge for gluons. Just as electrically-charged particles interact by
exchanging photons, in strong interactions color-charged particles
interact by exchanging gluons. Leptons, photons, and W and Z bosons
have no strong interaction and hence no color charge.
What causes forces?
Physicists think that all forces are caused by the exchange of
particles. Imagine two jugglers playing on a frozen lake. When they
start throwing their batons at each other, they will be pushed apart.
The batons carry momentum and energy from one juggler to the other and
as they are caught this momentum pushes each juggler away from the
other across the slippery ice.
The electromagnetic force
In the same way, the electromagnetic force is carried by particles
called virtual photons. Two negatively charged electrons will exchange
these virtual photons and push each other apart. Notice that they are
sending virtual photons out in every direction. The intensity of the
virtual photons gets smaller with distance, because they are spreading
out. This is why the force gets weaker with distance. It is even
possible to explain why the force decreases with the square of distance.
The electromagnetic force is described by the theory of quantum
electrodynamics (QED), which was developed by Richard Feynman. What
about the other forces?
Gravity
The force of gravity is another inverse square force, therefore
physicists think that there is an exchange particle that causes it.
This particle would be radiated by anything with mass and its
intensity would decrease with the square of distance. Physicists have
already named this particle the graviton but have not found one yet.
Strong nuclear force
The strong nuclear force acts between quarks (and between hadrons
which are made up of quarks). The particle that carries the force is
called the gluon (the physicists who labelled this particle decided
against a poetic Greek name).
Weak force
The weak force is the interaction that explains beta decay - the
decay of a neutron into a proton, an electron and an anti-neutrino.
There are three particles that carry the weak force, they are the Z0
(zed-zero ), W+ (double-you-plus and W- (double-you-minus). By now
physicists could not think of any more inventive names and stuck with
the letters.
The force-carrying particles all belong to a family called the gauge
bosons.
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