02 • STANDARD MODEL
A map of fundamental particles.
The Standard Model describes quarks, leptons and force carriers. At the center are fields; particles are quanta of those fields.
PARTICLE TABLE
All 17 fundamental bosons and fermions
| Type | Particle | Symbol | Charge | Spin | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fermion | Up | u | +2/3 e | 1/2 | 1st-generation quark |
| Fermion | Down | d | −1/3 e | 1/2 | 1st-generation quark |
| Fermion | Charm | c | +2/3 e | 1/2 | 2nd-generation quark |
| Fermion | Strange | s | −1/3 e | 1/2 | 2nd-generation quark |
| Fermion | Top | t | +2/3 e | 1/2 | 3rd-generation quark |
| Fermion | Bottom | b | −1/3 e | 1/2 | 3rd-generation quark |
| Fermion | Electron | e⁻ | −1 e | 1/2 | Charged lepton |
| Fermion | Muon | μ⁻ | −1 e | 1/2 | Charged lepton |
| Fermion | Tau | τ⁻ | −1 e | 1/2 | Charged lepton |
| Fermion | Electron neutrino | νₑ | 0 | 1/2 | Neutrino |
| Fermion | Muon neutrino | νμ | 0 | 1/2 | Neutrino |
| Fermion | Tau neutrino | ντ | 0 | 1/2 | Neutrino |
| Boson | Photon | γ | 0 | 1 | Electromagnetic interaction |
| Boson | Gluon | g | 0 | 1 | Strong interaction |
| Boson | W boson | W± | ±1 e | 1 | Weak interaction |
| Boson | Z boson | Z⁰ | 0 | 1 | Weak interaction |
| Boson | Higgs boson | H | 0 | 0 | Higgs field and mass mechanism |
* The table lists 17 particles (without separate rows for antiparticles; quarks and leptons have corresponding antiparticles). The eight gluons are counted as one carrier type of the strong interaction.
Important: The Standard Model is extraordinarily successful, but it is not a complete theory of nature — for example, it does not describe gravity and does not explain all dark matter.