Currently an informal name for the Standard Model
Chronological outline of the key theories:
- Maxwell's equations
- Schrödinger equation
- Date: 1926
- Numerical predictions:
- hydrogen spectral line, excluding finer structure such as 2p up and down split: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-structure_constant
- Dirac equation
- Date: 1928
- Numerical predictions:
- hydrogen spectral line including 2p split, but excluding even finer structure such as Lamb shift
- Qualitative predictions:
- Antimatter
- Spin as part of the equation
- quantum electrodynamics
- Date: 1947 onwards
- Numerical predictions:
- Qualitative predictions:
- Antimatter
- spin as part of the equation
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the fundamental constituents of matter and radiation, as well as the interactions between them. The field focuses on understanding the basic building blocks of the universe, such as elementary particles, which include quarks, leptons (including electrons and neutrinos), and gauge bosons (which mediate forces, like photons for the electromagnetic force and W and Z bosons for the weak force).
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