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Vector boson
 
 
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In particle physics
Particle physics

Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the elementary particle constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them....
, a vector boson is a boson
Boson

In particle physics, bosons are subatomic particle which obey Bose-Einstein statistics; they are named after Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein....
 with the spin
Spin (physics)

In quantum mechanics, spin is a fundamental property of atomic nucleus, hadrons, and elementary particles. For particles with non-zero spin, spin direction is an important intrinsic degrees of freedom ....
 quantum number equal to 1.

The vector bosons considered to be elementary particle
Elementary particle

In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a wiktionary:particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not known to be made up of smaller particles....
s are the gauge boson
Gauge boson

In particle physics, gauge bosons are bosonic particles that act as carriers of the fundamental interactions of nature. More specifically, elementary particles whose interactions are described by gauge theory exert forces on each other by the exchange of gauge bosons, usually as virtual particles....
s, the force carriers of fundamental interaction
Fundamental interaction

In physics, a fundamental interaction or fundamental force is a process by which elementary particles interact with each other. An interaction is often described as a field , and is mediated by the exchange of gauge bosons between particles....
s: the photon
Photon

In physics, the photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic field and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation....
 of electromagnetism
Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism is the physics of the electromagnetic field, a field which exerts a force on Elementary particles with the property of electric charge and which is reciprocally affected by the presence and motion of such particles....
, the W and Z bosons
W and Z bosons

The W and Z bosons are the elementary particles that mediate the weak force. Their discovery has been heralded as a major success for the Standard Model of particle physics....
 of the weak interaction
Weak interaction

The weak interaction is one of the four fundamental interactions of nature. In the Standard Model of particle physics, it is due to the exchange of the heavy W and Z bosons....
, and the gluon
Gluon

Gluons are elementary particles that cause quarks to interact, and are indirectly responsible for the binding of protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei....
 of the strong interaction
Strong interaction

In particle physics, the strong interaction, or strong force, or color force, holds quarks and gluons together to form protons, neutrons and other particles....
. There also exist composite particles that are vector bosons, such as the vector meson
Vector meson

In high energy physics, a vector meson is a meson with total angular momentum quantum number 1 and odd parity . Compare to a pseudovector meson, which has a total angular momentum quantum number 1 and even parity....
s, made of a quark
Quark

Quarks are a type of elementary particle and major constituents of matter. They are the only particles in the Standard Model to experience all four fundamental interaction, which are also known as fundamental interactions....
 and antiquark. For some time, through the 1970s and '80s, intermediate vector bosons, vector bosons of "intermediate" mass, was a major topic in high energy physics.

name vector boson arises from quantum field theory
Quantum field theory

Quantum field theory or QFT provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanics models of systems classically described by field or of Many-body problem....
.






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Encyclopedia


In particle physics
Particle physics

Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the elementary particle constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them....
, a vector boson is a boson
Boson

In particle physics, bosons are subatomic particle which obey Bose-Einstein statistics; they are named after Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein....
 with the spin
Spin (physics)

In quantum mechanics, spin is a fundamental property of atomic nucleus, hadrons, and elementary particles. For particles with non-zero spin, spin direction is an important intrinsic degrees of freedom ....
 quantum number equal to 1.

The vector bosons considered to be elementary particle
Elementary particle

In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a wiktionary:particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not known to be made up of smaller particles....
s are the gauge boson
Gauge boson

In particle physics, gauge bosons are bosonic particles that act as carriers of the fundamental interactions of nature. More specifically, elementary particles whose interactions are described by gauge theory exert forces on each other by the exchange of gauge bosons, usually as virtual particles....
s, the force carriers of fundamental interaction
Fundamental interaction

In physics, a fundamental interaction or fundamental force is a process by which elementary particles interact with each other. An interaction is often described as a field , and is mediated by the exchange of gauge bosons between particles....
s: the photon
Photon

In physics, the photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic field and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation....
 of electromagnetism
Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism is the physics of the electromagnetic field, a field which exerts a force on Elementary particles with the property of electric charge and which is reciprocally affected by the presence and motion of such particles....
, the W and Z bosons
W and Z bosons

The W and Z bosons are the elementary particles that mediate the weak force. Their discovery has been heralded as a major success for the Standard Model of particle physics....
 of the weak interaction
Weak interaction

The weak interaction is one of the four fundamental interactions of nature. In the Standard Model of particle physics, it is due to the exchange of the heavy W and Z bosons....
, and the gluon
Gluon

Gluons are elementary particles that cause quarks to interact, and are indirectly responsible for the binding of protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei....
 of the strong interaction
Strong interaction

In particle physics, the strong interaction, or strong force, or color force, holds quarks and gluons together to form protons, neutrons and other particles....
. There also exist composite particles that are vector bosons, such as the vector meson
Vector meson

In high energy physics, a vector meson is a meson with total angular momentum quantum number 1 and odd parity . Compare to a pseudovector meson, which has a total angular momentum quantum number 1 and even parity....
s, made of a quark
Quark

Quarks are a type of elementary particle and major constituents of matter. They are the only particles in the Standard Model to experience all four fundamental interaction, which are also known as fundamental interactions....
 and antiquark. For some time, through the 1970s and '80s, intermediate vector bosons, vector bosons of "intermediate" mass, was a major topic in high energy physics.

Explanation

The name vector boson arises from quantum field theory
Quantum field theory

Quantum field theory or QFT provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanics models of systems classically described by field or of Many-body problem....
. The component of such a particle's spin along any axis has the three eigenvalues -h, 0, and +h (where h is the reduced Planck constant
Planck constant

The Planck constant , also called Planck's constant, is a physical constant used to describe the sizes of quantum in quantum mechanics. It is named after Max Planck, one of the founders of quantum theory....
), meaning that any measurement of it can only yield one of these values. (This is, at least, true for massive vector bosons; the situation is a bit different for massless particles such as the photon, for reasons beyond the scope of this article.) The space of spin states therefore has three degrees of freedom
Degrees of freedom

Degrees of freedom can mean:* Degrees of freedom * Degrees of freedom * Degrees of freedom ...
, the same as the number of components of a vector in three-dimensional space. Quantum superposition
Quantum superposition

Quantum superposition is the fundamental law of quantum mechanics. It defines the allowed state space of a quantum mechanical system.In Probability theory, every possible event has a non-negative real number between zero and one associated to it, the probability, which gives the chance that it happens....
s of these states can be taken such that they transform under rotation
Rotation

A rotation is a movement of an object in a circular motion. A two-dimensional object rotates around a center of rotation. A Three-dimensional space object rotates around a line called an axis....
s just like the spatial components of a rotating vector. If the vector boson is taken to be the quantum
Quantum

In physics, a quantum is an indivisible entity of a quantity that has the same units as the Planck constant and is related to both energy and momentum of elementary particles of matter and of photons and other bosons....
 of a field, the field is a vector field
Vector field

In mathematics a vector field is a construction in vector calculus which associates a vector to every point in a Euclidean space.Vector fields are often used in physics to model, for example, the speed and direction of a moving fluid throughout space, or the strength and direction of some force, such as the magnetic field or gravity for...
, hence the name.

See also

  • Pseudovector meson
    Pseudovector meson

    In high energy physics, a pseudovector meson or axial vector meson is a meson with total angular momentum quantum number 1 and even parity ....
  • Scalar boson
    Scalar boson

    A scalar boson is a boson whose spin equals zero....