Paradoxes of the subatomic world
Let's summarize some results, clearly identifying all the paradoxes of the subatomic world known to us.
1. At the level of the atom, nucleus and elementary particle, matter has a dual aspect, which in one situation appears as particles, and in another as waves. Moreover, the particle has a more or less definite location, and the wave propagates in all directions in space.
2. The dual nature of matter determines the “quantum effect”, which consists in the fact that a particle located in a limited volume of space begins to move intensely, and the greater the limitation, the higher the speed. The result of a typical “quantum effect” is the hardness of matter, the identity of atoms of one chemical element and their high mechanical stability.
Since the limitations on the volume of an atom, and even more so the nucleus, are very significant, the speeds of particle movement are extremely high. To study the subatomic world we have to use relativistic physics.
3. The atom is not at all like a small planetary system. It is not particles—electrons—that revolve around the nucleus, but probabilistic waves, and an electron can move from orbit to orbit, absorbing or emitting energy in the form of a photon.
4. At the subatomic level there are not solid material objects of classical physics, but wave probability models, which reflect the probability of the existence of relationships.
5. Elementary particles are not elementary at all, but extremely complex.
6. All known elementary particles have their own antiparticles. Pairs of particles and antiparticles arise in the presence of a sufficient amount of energy and are converted into pure energy through the reverse process of annihilation.
7. During collisions, particles are capable of transforming into one another: for example, when a proton and a neutron collide, a pi-meson is born, etc.
8. No experiment can simultaneously lead to an accurate measurement of dynamic variables: for example, the uncertainty of the position of an event in time turns out to be related to the uncertainty of the amount of energy in the same way as the uncertainty of the spatial position of a particle is related to the uncertainty of its momentum.
9. Mass is a form of energy; Since energy is a dynamic quantity associated with a process, the particle is perceived as a dynamic process using energy, which manifests itself in the form of mass of the particle.
10. Subatomic particles are both divisible and indivisible. During the collision, the energy of two particles is redistributed and the same particles are formed. And if the energy is high enough, then in addition to the same ones as the original ones, additional new particles can be formed.
11. The forces of mutual attraction and repulsion between particles can be transformed into the same particles.
12. The world of particles cannot be decomposed into the smallest components independent of each other; the particle cannot be isolated.
13. Within an atom, matter does not exist in specific places, but rather “can exist”; atomic phenomena do not happen in certain places and in certain ways for sure, but rather “may happen.”
14. The result of the experiment is influenced by the preparation and measurement system, the final link of which is the observer. The properties of an object matter only in the context of the interaction of the object with the observer, because the observer decides how he will carry out measurements, and, depending on his decision, receives a characteristic of the property of the observed object.
15. Non-local connections operate in the subatomic world.
It would seem that there is enough complexity and confusion in the subatomic world that underlies the macrocosm. But no! That's not all.
The reality that was discovered as a result of the study of the subatomic world revealed the unity of concepts that until now seemed opposite and even irreconcilable. Not only are particles simultaneously divisible and indivisible, matter is both discontinuous and continuous, energy is transformed into particles and vice versa, etc., relativistic physics even unified the concepts of space and time. It is this fundamental unity that exists in a higher dimension (four-dimensional space-time) that is the basis for the unification of all opposing concepts.
The introduction of the concept of probabilistic waves, which to a certain extent resolved the particle-wave paradox, moving it to a completely new context, led to the emergence of a new pair of much more global oppositions: existence and non-existence(1). Atomic reality lies beyond this opposition.
Perhaps this opposition is the most difficult for our consciousness to perceive. In physics, it is possible to build specific models that show the transition from the state of particles to the state of waves and back. But no model can explain the transition from existence to non-existence. No physical process can be used to explain the transition from a state called a virtual particle to a state of rest in a vacuum, where these objects disappear.
We cannot say that an atomic particle exists at one point or another, and we cannot say that it does not exist there. Being a probabilistic scheme, a particle can exist (simultaneously!) at different points and represent a strange kind of physical reality, something between existence and non-existence. Therefore, we cannot describe the state of a particle in terms of fixed opposing concepts (black - white, plus - minus, cold - warm, etc.). The particle is not located at a certain point and is not absent there. It does not move or rest. Only the probable pattern, that is, the tendency of the particle to be at certain points, changes.
Robert Oppenheimer expressed this paradox most precisely when he said: “If we ask, for example, whether the location of an electron is constant, we must say “no,” if we ask whether the location of an electron changes over time, we must say “no,” if we ask, If the electron is stationary, we must say “no,” if we ask whether it is moving, we must say “no.” Couldn't have said it better!
It is no coincidence that W. Heisenberg admitted: “I remember numerous arguments with God until late at night, ending with the recognition of our helplessness; When, after an argument, I went for a walk in a nearby park, I asked myself the same question again and again: “Can there be as much absurdity in nature as we see in the results of atomic experiments?”
Such pairs of opposite concepts as force and matter, particle and wave, motion and rest, existence and non-existence, combined into a simultaneous unity, represent today the most difficult position of quantum theory to comprehend. It is difficult to predict what other paradoxes that turn all our ideas upside down will science face?
Raging world . But that's not all. The ability of particles to respond to compression by increasing their speed of movement speaks to the fundamental mobility of matter, which becomes apparent as we delve deeper into the subatomic world. In this world, most particles are chained to molecular, atomic and nuclear structures, and all of them are not at rest, but are in a state of chaotic motion; they are mobile by nature. Quantum theory shows that matter is constantly moving, never remaining at rest for a moment.
For example, taking a piece of iron in our hands, we do not hear or feel this movement; it, the iron, seems motionless and passive to us. But if we look at this “dead” piece of iron under a very strong microscope, which will allow us to see everything that is happening in the atom, we will see something completely different. Let's remember the model of the iron atom, in which twenty-six electrons revolve around a nucleus consisting of twenty-six protons and thirty neutrons. The rapid whirlwind of twenty-six electrons around the nucleus is like a chaotic and ever-changing swarm of insects. It's amazing how these wildly spinning electrons don't collide with each other. It seems as if there is a built-in mechanism inside each, vigilantly ensuring that they do not collide.
And if we look into the nucleus, we will see protons and neutrons dancing in a frantic lambada rhythm, with dancers alternating and couples changing partners. In a word, in the “dead” metal, in the literal and figurative sense, there is such a diverse movement of protons, neutrons and electrons that is simply impossible to imagine.
This multi-layered, raging world consists of atoms and subatomic particles moving in various orbits at wild speeds, “dancing” the wonderful dance of life to the music that someone composed. But all the material objects that we see around us consist of atoms connected to each other by intramolecular bonds of various types and thus form molecules. Only the electrons in a molecule move not around each atomic nucleus, but around a group of atoms. And these molecules are also in constant chaotic vibrational motion, the nature of which depends on the thermal conditions around the atoms.
In short, in the subatomic and atomic world, rhythm, movement and constant change reign supreme. But all changes are not random or arbitrary. They follow very clear and distinct patterns: all particles of one type or another are absolutely identical in mass, electrical charge and other characteristic indicators; all charged particles have an electric charge that is either equal to the charge of the electron, or opposite in sign, or twice as large; and other characteristics of particles can not take on any arbitrary values, but only a limited number of them, which allows scientists to divide particles into several groups, which can also be called “families” (24).
Questions inevitably arise: who composed the music for the amazing dance of subatomic particles, who set the information program and taught the couples to dance, at what moment did this dance begin? In other words: how is matter formed, who created it, when did it happen? These are the questions to which science is looking for answers.
Unfortunately, our worldview is characterized by limitations and approximateness. Our limited understanding of nature leads to the development of limited “laws of nature” that allow us to describe a large number of phenomena, but the most important laws of the universe that influence the human worldview still remain largely unknown to us.
“The attitude of most physicists resembles that of a schizophrenic,” says quantum physics theorist Fritz Rohrlich of Syracuse University. – On the one hand, they accept the standard interpretation of quantum theory. On the other hand, they insist on the reality of quantum systems, even if they are fundamentally unobservable."
It's a really strange position to take, which can be expressed as: "I'm not going to think about it, even if I know it's true." This position keeps many physicists from considering the logical consequences of the most amazing discoveries of quantum physics. As David Mermin of Cornell University points out, physicists fall into three categories: the first, a small minority who are haunted by self-evident logical consequences; the second is a group that avoids the problem with the help of many considerations and arguments, mostly untenable; and finally, the third category - those who have no considerations, but do not care about it. “This position is, of course, the most comfortable,” notes Mermin (1).
Nevertheless, scientists are aware that all their theories describing natural phenomena, including the description of “laws,” are a product of human consciousness, consequences of the conceptual structure of our picture of the world, and not properties of reality itself. All scientific models and theories are only approximations to the true state of affairs. None of them can claim to be the ultimate truth. The inconclusiveness of theories is manifested primarily in the use of so-called “fundamental constants,” that is, quantities whose values are not derived from the corresponding theories, but are determined empirically. Quantum theory cannot explain why an electron has just such a mass and such an electric charge, and the theory of relativity cannot explain exactly this value of the speed of light.
Of course, science will never be able to create an ideal theory that will explain everything, but it must constantly strive for this, even if it is an unattainable goal. For the higher the bar is set over which the jumper must jump, the greater the height he will reach, even if he does not set a record. And scientists, like a jumper in training, constantly raise the bar, successively developing separate partial and approximate theories, each more accurate than the previous one.
Today, science already has a number of particular theories and models that quite successfully describe some aspects of the wave quantum reality that worries us. According to many scientists, the most promising theories - points of support for the further development of theoretical physics based on consciousness are Jeffrey Chu's "bootstrap" hypothesis, David Bohm's theory and the theory of torsion fields. And the unique experimental work of Russian scientists under the leadership of Academician V.P. Kaznacheev largely confirms the correctness of the approaches in the study of the Universe and Consciousness, embedded in these hypotheses and theories.
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The particles that make up atoms can be thought of in different ways - for example, as round grains of dust. They are so small that each such speck of dust cannot be seen individually. All matter that is in the surrounding world consists of such particles. What are the particles that make up atoms?
Definition
A subatomic particle is one of those “bricks” from which the entire surrounding world is built. Such particles include protons and neutrons, which are part of atomic nuclei. This category also includes electrons orbiting nuclei. In other words, subatomic particles in physics are protons, neutrons and electrons. In the world familiar to humans, as a rule, particles of a different kind are not found - they live unusually short. When their age ends, they disintegrate into ordinary particles.
The number of those subatomic particles that live relatively short-lived today amounts to hundreds. Their number is so great that scientists no longer use common names to refer to them. Like stars, they are often assigned numerical and letter designations.
Main Features
The most important characteristics of any subatomic particle include spin, electric charge, and mass. Since the weight of a particle is often related to its mass, some of the particles are traditionally called “heavy”. The equation that Einstein derived (E = mc2) indicates that the mass of a subatomic particle directly depends on its energy and speed. As for the electric charge, it is always a multiple of the fundamental unit. For example, if the charge of a proton is +1, then the charge of an electron is -1. However, some subatomic particles, such as the photon or neutrino, have no electrical charge at all.
Another important characteristic is the particle lifetime. More recently, scientists were confident that electrons, photons, as well as neutrinos and protons are completely stable, and their lifetime is almost infinite. However, this is not entirely true. A neutron, for example, remains stable only until it is “released” from the nucleus of an atom. After this, its life time is on average 15 minutes. All unstable particles undergo a process of quantum decay, which can never be completely predictable.
Particle Research
The atom was considered indivisible until its structure was discovered. About a century ago, Rutherford carried out his famous experiments, which involved bombarding a thin sheet. It turned out that the atoms of the substance were practically empty. And at the center of the atom there is everything that we call the nucleus of the atom - it is approximately a thousand times smaller than the atom itself. At that time, scientists believed that the atom consisted of two types of particles - the nucleus and electrons.
Over time, scientists began to wonder: why do the proton, electron and positron stick together and not fall apart in different directions under the influence of Coulomb forces? And also for scientists of that time it remained unclear: if these particles are elementary, then nothing can happen to them, and they must live forever.
With the development of quantum physics, researchers found that the neutron is subject to decay, and quite quickly at that. It decays into a proton, an electron and something else that could not be caught. The latter was noticed by the lack of energy. At that time, scientists assumed that the list of elementary particles had been exhausted, but now it is known that this is far from the case. A new particle called a neutrino was discovered. It carries no electrical charge and has extremely low mass.
Neutron
A neutron is a subatomic particle that has a neutral electrical charge. Its mass is almost 2 thousand times greater than the mass of an electron. Since neutrons belong to the class of neutral particles, they interact directly with the nuclei of atoms, and not with their electron shells. Neutrons also have a magnetic moment, which allows scientists to study the microscopic magnetic structure of matter. Neutron radiation is harmless even to biological organisms.
Subatomic particle - proton
Scientists have found that these “building blocks of matter” consist of three quarks. A proton is a positively charged particle. The mass of a proton exceeds the mass of an electron by 1836 times. One proton and one electron combine to form the simplest chemical element - the hydrogen atom. Until recently, it was believed that protons could not change their radius depending on which electrons orbited above them. A proton is an electrically charged particle. When combined with an electron, it turns into a neutron.
Electron
The electron was first discovered by the English physicist J. Thomson in 1897. This particle, as scientists now believe, is an elementary or point object. This is the name of a subatomic particle in an atom that does not have its own structure - does not consist of any other, smaller components. In union with a proton and a neutron, an electron forms an atom. Now scientists have not yet figured out what this particle consists of. An electron is a particle that has an infinitesimal electrical charge. The word “electron” itself, translated from ancient Greek, means “amber” - after all, it was amber that Hellenic scientists used to study the phenomena of electricity. This term was proposed by the British physicist in 1894, J. Stoney.
Why do you need to study elementary particles?
The simplest answer to the question of why scientists need knowledge about subatomic particles is: to have information about the internal structure of the atom. However, such a statement contains only a grain of truth. In fact, scientists study not just the internal structure of the atom - the main field of their research is the collisions of the smallest particles of matter. When these highly energetic particles collide with each other at high speeds, a new world is literally born, and the fragments of matter left behind after the collisions help reveal the secrets of nature that have always remained a mystery to scientists.
Subatomic physics is extremely popular. Scientists often receive the Nobel Prize for research in this area. Neutrinos are incredibly popular. Four awards were awarded for this particle. In 1988, the discovery of the muon neutrino was celebrated. In 1995, Fred Reiners received the prize for detecting neutrinos. In 2002, Ray Davies and Masatoshi Koshiba measured how many neutrinos the Sun sends to Earth. This year, Takaaki Kajita and Arthur MacDonald shared the prize for demonstrating how neutrinos can change from one form to another.
Wolfgang Pauli, who predicted the neutrino, also received the Nobel Prize, but for a different discovery in particle physics. He might have gotten another one for neutrinos, but he published his discovery in the form of a letter for a physics conference he did not attend.
However, the most popular subatomic particle is not the only surprise of the microworld. There are a dozen more different discoveries that can be called stunning.
10. Existence of subatomic particles
Throughout the 19th century, the very existence of atoms was questioned, thanks to the success of the atomic theory in chemistry, voiced by the English schoolteacher John Dalton. Before him, atoms were an abstract philosophical concept that was used in discussions about the ultimate nature of matter, but was considered outside of experimental research. Many physicists, in general, considered atoms to be a fiction, convenient for explaining experimental data, but unreal.
The data accumulated, and it was necessary to admit that if atoms do not exist, then there must be some kind of indivisible structure similar to them. The stone confirming the existence of atoms was the repetition of the properties of elements in Mendeleev’s periodic table. In 1897, Thomson reported the discovery of the first elementary particle - the electron, which completely refuted the indivisibility of atoms.
9. Atomic nucleus
Before physicists could accept the idea that atoms existed, they had to begin to accept the fact that they were made up of individual parts. Thompson theorized that negative electrons floated around like cherries in a positively charged pudding. But when Ernest Rutherford and his assistants managed to shoot alpha particles at a thin sheet of gold, some of the “cartridges” bounced back. This surprised Rutherford; he said it was comparable to shooting at tissue paper, with artillery shells flying back. The scientist suggested that inside the atom there is a tiny ball, today we call them nuclei.
8. Neutrons
By 1930, physicists knew about the existence of two subatomic particles: the proton and the electron, which seemed to explain everything except one, why positively charged protons do not fly apart. In 1920, Rutherford suggested that they were held together by another particle in the nucleus - the neutron. In 1932, James Chadwick discovered a neutral particle. The number of elementary particles was constantly growing.
The discovery of the neutron came as a huge surprise to physicists. When Rutherford put forward the idea of the existence of the neutron, few people believed him, perhaps only Chadwick.
7. Subatomic particles are actually waves
This surprise is connected with a rather comical story. In 1906, Thomson received the Nobel Prize for experimentally proving the existence of a subatomic particle - the electron. In 1973, his son George also received this award because he was able to demonstrate that an electron is a wave, at least sometimes. This wave-particle duality is at the center of quantum physics.
6. Neutrino detection
In 1934, Bethe and Rudolf Peierls proved that neutrinos interact weakly with matter, and it would be foolish to try to detect even one. You will need a reservoir of solid matter with a diameter of 1000 light years. But then atomic decay was discovered and nuclear reactors were invented. Physicists have discovered a prolific source of neutrinos.
5. Elementary particles turned out to be not so elementary
By 1950, many subatomic particles had been discovered; not only did the indivisible atom turn out to be divisible, but the number of its particles exceeded fifty. One of the Nobel Prize winners, Leon Laderman, even joked that if he had to learn the names of all subatomic particles, he would become a botanist. Physicists began to suspect that elementary particles have their own details.
4. Quarks
In 1950, physicists learned about subatomic particles, which are not part of atoms. In 1960, the idea appeared that elementary particles consist of small bricks that have a fractional charge. Murray Gell-Mann called these particles quarks, an innovative idea, since previously it was believed that fractional charges were nonsense. A few years later, another surprise from experimenters - they managed to confirm the existence of quarks.
3. Symmetry breaking
Long before the explosion of subatomic particle discoveries, the respected mathematician Hermann Weyl noted that nature knew nothing of parity. There can be no doubt that all laws of nature are invariant with respect to permutation on the right and on the left. But in 1956, Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Li proposed the idea that the rule of left-right symmetry in some cases did not work when it came to subatomic particles. This was a sensation, especially when confirmation from experimenters appeared.
2. Proton stability
Outside the atomic nucleus, neutrons are extremely unstable and decay within a few minutes into a proton, electron and antineutrino. But it seems that the proton is unusually stable and can remain indivisible forever. Although in the 1970s theorists began to believe that protons should decay over at least trillions of trillions of years, despite all efforts to detect such an event, scientists have not been able to detect it. This caused great surprise. Everything decays, but protons do not.
1. Antimatter
In 1932, not only the neutron was discovered, but also the positron. It was calculated by Karl Anderson by analyzing the traces of cosmic rays in a cloud chamber. Among the prints, the physicist found one that looked like the electron's, but was bent in the wrong direction. It turned out to be a positron, the antiparticle of an electron; Anderson called it a positive electron. The discovery of antimatter particles was a big surprise, but it fully corresponded to the theoretical calculations of Paul Dirac. It's amazing that someone could deduce the existence of something so strange just by playing with equations.
…God first gave matter the form of solid, massive,
impenetrable, mobile particles of such sizes and shapes
and with such properties and proportions in relation to
space that would be most suitable for the purpose
for which he created them.
I. Newton
In the history of philosophy and science, one can roughly distinguish 3 approaches to understanding the structure of nature at the micro level:
there are indivisible corpuscles or atoms, the world is reduced to fundamental “bricks” (Democritus, Newton);
matter is continuously and endlessly crushed into smaller and smaller pieces, never reaching an indivisible atom (Aristotle);
in the twentieth century a concept arose that explains the world on the basis of the interconnection of all things: a particle is not a “brick” of matter, but a process, link or pattern in the entire Universe (W. Heisenberg, J. Chu, F. Capra).
The first “elementary” particle was discovered in 1897 by J.J. Thomson, while studying cathode rays, he proved the existence electrons . When exposed to substances, negative electricity is easily released, which is recorded as flashes of light on the screen. The particles of negative electricity were called electrons. A minimum amount of electricity equal to the charge of one electron was observed during an electrical discharge in a rarefied gas. Until the 70s. XX century the problem of the internal structure of the electron has not been solved, there is still no hint of its internal structure (Anderson 1968; Weiskopf 1977).
A year earlier, A. Becquerel discovered the radioactive decay of uranium salt - the emission of alpha particles (He nuclei), these particles were used by Rutherford, who experimentally proved the existence of the atomic nucleus. In 1919, E. Rutherford carried out the first artificial nuclear reaction: by irradiating N with alpha particles, he obtained the O isotope, and proved that the nucleus of the atom contains N proton 27 (considered the limiting particle).
In 1932, J. Chadwick discovered another nuclear particle - an uncharged neutron 28. The discovery of the neutron, which laid the foundation for a new science - neutron physics , the basic properties of the neutron, the application of neutrons are devoted to the book by S.F. Shebalina Neutrons . Traces of neutrons were observed in a cloud chamber. The mass of a proton is equal to 1836.1 masses of an electron, the mass of a neutron is 1838.6. V. Heisenberg, and independently of him D.D. Ivanenko, I.E. Tamm, express a hypothesis about the structure of the atomic nucleus from protons and neutrons: nucleus C, for example, consists of 6 protons and 6 neutrons. In the beginning 30s believed: matter consists of atoms, and atoms consist of 3 “elementary” particles, “building blocks”: protons, neutrons and electrons (Shebalin 1969; Folta, Novy 1987; Capra 1994: 66-67).
In the same year, E.O. Lawrence in California built the first cyclotron (particle accelerator). Particle accelerators are facilities that collide high-energy particles. When subatomic particles moving at high speeds collide, a high level of energy is achieved and a world of interactions, fields and particles is born, since the level of elementaryity depends on the level of energy. If you accelerate a coin to such speeds, then its energy will be equal to the production of energy worth a thousand million dollars. A ring accelerator with a tunnel circumference of up to 27 km was built near Geneva. Today, to test some theories, for example, the theory of the grand unification of all particles, an accelerator the size of the solar system is needed (Folta, Novy 1987: 270-271; Davis 1989: 90-91).
Particles are also discovered in natural accelerators, cosmic rays collide with atoms of an experimental device, and the results of the impact are studied (this is how the predicted positron, muon and meson were discovered). With the help of accelerators and cosmic radiation research, a large and diverse world of subatomic particles has been revealed. In 1932, 3 particles were discovered, in 1947 – 14, in 1955 – 30, 1969 – more than 200. Simultaneously with the experiments, theoretical research was also carried out. Particles often move at the speed of light, , it is necessary to take into account the theory of relativity. The creation of a general theory of particles remains an unsolved problem in physics (Capra 1994: 67).
In 1967, a hypothesis appeared about the existence tachyons – particles whose speed of movement is higher than the speed of light. New “building blocks” of matter were discovered, many unstable, short-lived (“resonances” live 10-27 s.) particles that decay into ordinary particles. Later it became clear that the new particles: resonances and hyperons, mesons – excited states of other particles: proton and leptons. Just like an excited H atom in various states, which appears as 3 spectral lines, is not another atom (Born 1967: 127-129).
It turned out that particles do not disintegrate, but transform into each other or into the energy of field quanta, transform into “their other”, any particle can be a component of any other. Particles can “disappear” into radiation and exhibit wave properties. After the first artificial transformation, when the Li nuclei were converted into He nuclei, a atomic, nuclear physics (Born 1967; Weiskopf 1977: 50).
In 1963, M. Gell-Mann and J. Zweig proposed a hypothesis quarks . All hadrons are built from smaller particles - quarks of 3 types and their antiquarks. A proton and a neutron are made up of 3 quarks (they are also called baryons - heavy or nucleons - nuclear particles). The proton is stable, positively charged, the neutron is unstable, turns into a proton. Quark-antiquark pairs (each particle has an antiparticle) form mesons (intermediate in mass between electron and proton). In order to explain the diversity of hadronic patterns, physicists had to postulate the existence of extra quarks. There are now 12 quarks: 4 varieties or flavors (upper, downward, strange and charming), each of which can exist in 3 colors. Most physicists consider quarks to be truly elementary, without structure. Although all hadrons are characterized by quark symmetries, hadrons often behave as if they were actually made of point components, but the mystery of quarks still exists (Davis 1989: 100; Hawking 1990: 69; Capra 1994: 228, 229).
In accordance with bootstrap hypothesis nature cannot be reduced to “building blocks” of matter such as quarks, but must be understood on the basis of connectivity. Heisenberg, who did not believe in the quark model, agreed with the bootstrap picture of particles as dynamic patterns in an interconnected network of events (Capra 1996: 43-49).
All known particles of the Universe can be divided into two groups: particles of “solid” matter and virtual particles, carriers of interactions , having no “rest” mass. Particles of matter are also divided into two groups: hadrons 29 , nucleons 30 , baryons or heavy particles and leptons 31 .
Leptons include the electron, muon , tau lepton and 3 types neutrino . Today it is customary to consider an electron to be an elementary, point-like object. The electron is negatively charged, 1836 times lighter than the proton (Weiskopf 1997: 79; Davis 1989: 93-102; Hawking 1990: 63; Feynman, Weinberg 2000).
In 1931, W. Pauli predicted the existence of a neutral particle neutrino , in 1955, in a nuclear reactor, a neutrino was born from a proton to form an electron and a neutron.
This is the most amazing particle: with BV, the neutrino almost does not interact with matter, being the lightest of leptons. Its mass is less than one ten-thousandth the mass of an electron, but it is perhaps the most abundant particle in the Universe and can cause its collapse. Neutrinos hardly interact with matter, penetrating through it as if it were not there at all (an example of the existence of non-one-dimensional forms). A gamma quantum travels 3 m in lead and interacts with the nucleus of a lead atom, and a neutrino must travel 4·10 13 km to interact. Neutrinos participate only in weak interactions. It has not yet been established precisely whether neutrinos actually have a “rest” mass. There are 3 types of neutrinos: electron, muon and tau.
In 1936, in the products of interaction of cosmic rays, they discovered muon , an unstable particle that decays into an electron and 2 neutrinos. In the late 70s, the heaviest particle, the lepton, was discovered. tau lepton (Davis 1989: 93-95).
In 1928, P. Dirac predicted, and in 1932, discovered a positively charged electron ( positron – antiparticle of the electron.): from one γ-quantum an electron and a positron – a positively charged electron – are born. When an electron collides with a positron, two gamma rays are produced, since to maintain zero at annihilation 32 two photons are needed, scattering in different directions.
Later it turned out: all particles have antiparticles , interacting, particles and antiparticles annihilate with the formation of energy quanta. Every particle of matter has an antiparticle. When a particle and an antiparticle collide, they annihilate, as a result of which energy is released and other particles are born. In the early Universe there were more particles than antiparticles, otherwise annihilation would have filled the Universe with radiation, and there would have been no matter (Silk 1982: 123-125; Hawking 1990: 64, 71-72).
The state of electrons in an atom is determined using a series of numbers called quantum numbers , and indicate the location and shape of the orbits:
number (n) – this is the orbital number, which determines the amount of energy that an electron must have in order to be in orbit, radius;
number (ℓ) determines the exact shape of the electron wave in orbit;
number (m) called magnetic and determines the charge of the field that surrounds the electron;
number(s) , the so-called spin (rotation) determines the speed and direction of rotation of the electron, which is determined by the shape of the electron wave in terms of the probability of the particle existing at certain points in the orbit.
Since these characteristics are expressed in integers, this means that the amount of rotation of the electron does not increase gradually, but abruptly - from one fixed value to another. Particles are characterized by the presence or absence of mass, electric charge, spin (rotational characteristic, particles of matter have spin +1/2, –1/2, particles that carry interactions 0, 1 and 2) and Lifetime (Erdei-Gruz 1976; Davis 1989 : 38-41, 92; Hawking 1990: 62-63; Capra 1994: 63).
In 1925, W. Pauli asked the question: why do electrons in an atom occupy a strictly defined position (2 in the first orbit, 8 in the second, 32 in the fourth)? Analyzing the spectra, he revealed a simple principle: two identical particles cannot be in the same state , i.e. they cannot have the same coordinates, velocities, quantum numbers. All particles of matter obey W. Pauli's exclusion principle .
This principle emphasizes a clear organization of structures, outside of which the particles would turn into a homogeneous and dense jelly. The exclusion principle made it possible to explain the chemical properties of elements determined by the electrons of the outer unfilled shells, which provided the basis for the periodic table of elements. The Pauli principle led to new discoveries and understanding of the thermal and electrical conductivity of metals and semiconductors. Using the exclusion principle, the electronic shells of atoms were built, and Mendeleev’s system of elements became clear (Dubnishcheva 1997: 450-452).
But there are particles that do not obey W. Pauli’s exclusion principle (there is no limit on the number of exchanged particles, the interaction force can be any), carrier particles or virtual particles that do not have a “rest” mass and create forces between particles of matter (Hawking 1990: 64 -65).
