particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

, a vector boson is a

boson In particle physics, a boson ( ) is a subatomic particle whose spin quantum number has an integer value (0,1,2 ...). Bosons form one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particle, the other being fermions, which have odd half-integer s ...

whose spin equals one. The vector bosons that are regarded as

elementary particle In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. Particles currently thought to be elementary include electrons, the fundamental fermions ( quarks, leptons, an ...

s in the

Standard Model The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetism, electromagnetic, weak interaction, weak and strong interactions - excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying a ...

are the gauge bosons, the

force carrier In quantum field theory, a force carrier, also known as messenger particle or intermediate particle, is a type of particle that gives rise to forces between other particles. These particles serve as the quanta of a particular kind of physical fi ...

s of

fundamental interaction In physics, the fundamental interactions, also known as fundamental forces, are the interactions that do not appear to be reducible to more basic interactions. There are four fundamental interactions known to exist: the gravitational and electro ...

s: the

photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they always ...

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of a ...

, the

W and Z bosons In particle physics, the W and Z bosons are vector bosons that are together known as the weak bosons or more generally as the intermediate vector bosons. These elementary particles mediate the weak interaction; the respective symbols are , , and ...

of the

weak interaction In nuclear physics and particle physics, the weak interaction, which is also often called the weak force or weak nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions, with the others being electromagnetism, the strong interaction, ...

, and the gluons of the

strong interaction The strong interaction or strong force is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into proton, neutron, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the n ...

. Some

composite particle This is a list of known and hypothesized particles. Elementary particles Elementary particles are particles with no measurable internal structure; that is, it is unknown whether they are composed of other particles. They are the fundamental ob ...

s are vector bosons, for instance any

vector meson In high energy physics, a vector meson is a meson with total spin 1 and odd parity (usually noted as ). Vector mesons have been seen in experiments since the 1960s, and are well known for their spectroscopic pattern of masses. The vector meso ...

(

quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...

and

antiquark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...

). During the 1970s and 1980s, intermediate vector bosons (the W and Z bosons, which mediate the weak interaction) drew much attention in

. A pseudovector boson is a vector boson that has even parity, whereas "regular" vector bosons have odd parity. There are no fundamental pseudovector bosons, but there are

pseudovector meson In high energy physics, a pseudovector meson or axial vector meson is a meson with total spin 1 and even parity (+) (usually noted as :Compare to a vector meson, which has a total spin 1 and odd parity Charge parity (C) in addition ...

In relation to the Higgs boson

The W and Z particles interact with the Higgs boson as shown in the

Feynman diagram In theoretical physics, a Feynman diagram is a pictorial representation of the mathematical expressions describing the behavior and interaction of subatomic particles. The scheme is named after American physicist Richard Feynman, who introduc ...

Explanation

The name ''vector boson'' arises from

quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and ...

. The

component Circuit Component may refer to: •Are devices that perform functions when they are connected in a circuit. In engineering, science, and technology Generic systems * System components, an entity with discrete structure, such as an assem ...

of such a particle's spin along any axis has the three

eigenvalue In linear algebra, an eigenvector () or characteristic vector of a linear transformation is a nonzero vector that changes at most by a scalar factor when that linear transformation is applied to it. The corresponding eigenvalue, often denoted b ...

s −, 0, and + (where is the

reduced Planck constant The Planck constant, or Planck's constant, is a fundamental physical constant of foundational importance in quantum mechanics. The constant gives the relationship between the energy of a photon and its frequency, and by the mass-energy equivale ...

), meaning that any measurement of its spin can only yield one of these values. (This is true for massive vector bosons; the situation differs for

massless particle In particle physics, a massless particle is an elementary particle whose invariant mass is zero. There are two known gauge boson massless particles: the photon (carrier of electromagnetism) and the gluon (carrier of the strong force). However, g ...

s such as the photon, for reasons beyond the scope of this article. See

Wigner's classification In mathematics and theoretical physics, Wigner's classification is a classification of the nonnegative ~ (~E \ge 0~)~ energy irreducible unitary representations of the Poincaré group which have either finite or zero mass eigenvalues. (Since thi ...

.) The space of spin states therefore is a discrete

degree of freedom Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...

consisting of three states, the same as the number of components of a

vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

in three-dimensional space.

Quantum superposition Quantum superposition is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics. It states that, much like waves in classical physics, any two (or more) quantum states can be added together ("superposed") and the result will be another valid quantum ...

s of these states can be taken such that they transform under rotations just like the spatial components of a rotating vector (the so called 3 representation of SU(2)). If the vector boson is taken to be the quantum of a field, the field is a vector field, hence the name. The ''boson'' part of the name arises from the spin-statistics relation, which requires that all integer spin particles be bosons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vector Boson Bosons Mesons Gauge theories Particle physics

In relation to the Higgs boson

Explanation

See also

References