nLab electron

Idea

The electron is one of the fundamental particles/matter fields in the standard model of particle physics, one of the leptons.

Mathematically, the electron is a quantum of a Dirac field.

In quantum electrodynamics the electron interacts with the photon via the electron-photon interaction.

Properties

• anomalous magnetic moment

Related concepts

• Dirac field, electron propagator

• the bound state of an electron…

  … with a proton is a hydrogen atom

  … with a positron is a positronium

• the bound state of several electrons with a nucleus is an atom

• Lamb shift

• quantum electrodynamics

• the antiparticle of the electron is the positron

flavors of fundamental fermions in the standard model of particle physics:
generation of fermions	1st generation	2nd generation	3d generation
quarks ($q$)
up-type	up quark ($u$)	charm quark ($c$)	top quark ($t$)
down-type	down quark ($d$)	strange quark ($s$)	bottom quark ($b$)
leptons
charged	electron	muon	tauon
neutral	electron neutrino	muon neutrino	tau neutrino
bound states:
mesons	light mesons: pion ($u d$) ρ-meson ($u d$) ω-meson ($u d$) f1-meson a1-meson	strange-mesons: ϕ-meson ($s \bar s$), kaon, K*-meson ($u s$, $d s$) eta-meson ($u u + d d + s s$) charmed heavy mesons: D-meson ($u c$, $d c$, $s c$) J/ψ-meson ($c \bar c$)	bottom heavy mesons: B-meson ($q b$) ϒ-meson ($b \bar b$)
baryons	nucleons: proton $(u u d)$ neutron $(u d d)$