This entry is about the concept in physics. For other notions of the same name see atom (disambiguation)
physics, mathematical physics, philosophy of physics
theory (physics), model (physics)
experiment, measurement, computable physics
Axiomatizations
Tools
Structural phenomena
Types of quantum field thories
fields and particles in particle physics
and in the standard model of particle physics:
matter field fermions (spinors, Dirac fields)
| flavors of fundamental fermions in the standard model of particle physics: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| generation of fermions | 1st generation | 2nd generation | 3d generation |
| quarks () | |||
| up-type | up quark () | charm quark () | top quark () |
| down-type | down quark () | strange quark () | bottom quark () |
| leptons | |||
| charged | electron | muon | tauon |
| neutral | electron neutrino | muon neutrino | tau neutrino |
| bound states: | |||
| mesons | light mesons: pion () ρ-meson () ω-meson () f1-meson a1-meson | strange-mesons: ϕ-meson (), kaon, K*-meson (, ) eta-meson () charmed heavy mesons: D-meson (, , ) J/ψ-meson () | bottom heavy mesons: B-meson () ϒ-meson () |
| baryons | nucleons: proton neutron |
(also: antiparticles)
hadrons (bound states of the above quarks)
minimally extended supersymmetric standard model
bosinos:
dark matter candidates
Exotica
In physics an atom is a bound state of a nucleus and a shell of electrons, where the nucleus itself is a bound state of protons and neutrons, which themselves are bound states of quarks, which, finally, in the present standard model of particle physics, are elementary particles, as are the electrons in the shell of the atom.
In chemistry the different types of atoms that exist are also called chemical elements. Their bound states in turn are called molecules. The phenomenology of the elements that is captured by the periodic table of the elements is explained by the quantum physics of atoms. This transition area between quantum physics and chemistry is called quantum chemistry.
When the term atom (“indivisible”) for these physical objects was established, the inner structure of atoms was not known yet. Similarly what today are called elementary (hence again: indivisible) particles are subject to speculation that they might be compound after all (e.g. in technicolor models, or string theory).
See also
Last revised on February 23, 2023 at 06:14:06. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.