How Does Physics Explain the Origins of Matter?
By Thomas Schaefer
The prompt question in the title of this presentation is a very complex one, and leads down many a rabbit hole. I believe that the best approach to understanding what matter is and how it was created is to understand the elementary particles (the particles that make up all other particles, or allow for matter to exist as it does), as well as explore the Big Bang as the most popular theory for the origin of the universe. Note: This is by no means a comprehensive explaination of the topics of this presentation, but rather an overview of them.
Thomas Schaefer
How Does Physics Explain the Origins of Matter?
What is matter?
How was matter created?
The Big Bang
Discovery of Particles
Background Microwaves
Redshift
The Standard Model
Images: Different Sections of a map of the Standard Model. (Source: Dominic Walliman, Domain of Science on Youtube).
The Standard Model
Bosons - Gauge Bosons
Fermions - Quarks
Bosons - Higgs Boson
Fermions - Leptons
Glossary
- Antiparticle - A particle with the same mass and opposite charge to that of its corresponding particle.
- Boson - A particle that carries a force between particles or gives rise to mass.
- CERN - The European Council for Nuclear Research
- Colour (quarks) - A property of quarks that determines how they form hadrons.
- Cosmic Radiation - Charged paticles, or electromagnetic radiation, that originates in space.
- Cosmic Radiation Shower - A large amount of particles produced by a single particle coming into contact with the atmosphere.
- Decay (particles) - The transformation of particles into other, or many, particles
- doppler effect - A phenomenon by which waves in front of the moving body emitting those waves have a shorter wavelength than those behind it.
- Electromagnetic Force - A fundamental force that determines the actions of charged particles.
- electromagnetic radiation - A type of wave (e.g. light, gamma rays, radio waves).
- Electron - A negatively charged subatomic particle that orbits nuclei in atoms
- Flavour (quarks) - The way in which quarks are differentiated. (Flavour = different type of quark)
- Fundamental Force - Gravity, electromagnetic force, strong force, or weak force.
- Gluon - A boson that carries the strong nuclear force, and is responsible for holding together nuclei.
- Higgs Boson - A recently discovered particle that forms as a wave in the Higgs Field.
- Higgs Field - A field that determines the mass of a particle.
- Ionising (particles) - A particle that causes an atom around it to either lose or gain an electron.
- Light Spectrum - The range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation which are specified as light.
- mass-energy conservation - The law by which energy and mass can be "converted" to one another with the net amount of mass-energy being the same as it was originally.
- Muon - A type of lepton.
- Neutrino - A type of lepton that is very small, low in mass, and neutral in charge.
- Neutron - A neutrally charged subatomic particle that makes up part of a nucleus.
- Nuclear Fission - The process by which a heavy atom splits, producing lighter atoms and releasing energy.
- Nuclear Fusion - The process by which light atoms bind together, releasing energy.
- Nucleus/nuclei - A small clump of protons and neutrons that sits in the centre of an atom.
- Penetrating (particles) - The ability to pass through an object while maintaining speed.
- Photon - A type of boson with no mass or charge that fascilitates the electromagnetic force.
- pion - A type of particle that can be charged or neutral, and is made from an up quark and an anti-down quark
- Poltergeist - A type of ghost in folklore.
- Positron - The antiparticle of an electron, with similar properties but a postitive charge.
- Proton - A subatomic particle that makes up part of a nucleus.
- Quark - A group of subatomic particles that make can group together to form hadrons.
- radiation - The emission of energy as a particle or electromagnetic wave.
- Strong Force - The fundamental force that is responsible for holding a nucleus together.
- Subatomic Particle - A particle smaller than an atom.
- Tau particle - A type of lepton
- W Boson - A type of boson that fascilitates weak force interactions between quarks, allowing them to change flavour.
- Wavelength - The distance between corresponding parts of a wave (such as two crests).
- weak force - The fundamental force that allows quarks to change flavour.
- Z Boson - A type of neutrally charged boson that carries the weak force.
Bibliography
Note: apologies for poor picture quality, there was an issue with formatting. (Bibliography also submitted separately in higher quality) Special thanks to Tasha Higgins.
Fermions
Quarks
The flavour of a quark determines mass and charge, and a quark can "transform" to change flavour. For example, in Beta decay, as one down quark in a neutron becomes an up quark to form a proton. This may happen due to the exchange of W bosons.
Quarks make up Hadrons, which are usually either baryons - consisting of three quarks (such as protons and neutrons) or mesons - consisting of one quark and one antiquark (such as a pion). There are 6 flavours of quark, each of which has three colours (each colour of each flavour also having a corresponding antiparticle, called an antiquark).
The Positron was discovered in 1932, when Carl Anderson was using a cloud chamber with a charge running through it to observe cosmic radiation showers, he observed a particle that had the same mass and size as an electron, but an opposite charge. He called this anti-electron a positron.The Higgs field was proposed in 1964 to explain why particles have mass The Higgs Boson was only detected in 2012, and confirmed to exist in 2013, through detections of experiments using a particle accelerator at CERN.
Discovery of Particles
The Neutron - the neutron was discovered when scientists discovered a type of radiation that was penetrating, but non-ionising, and did not match observations about photons. The neutrino - the neutrino was predicted to fix an issue with the energy conservation in beta decay, It was eventually detected by scientists at the Los Almos National Laborator in project poltergeist, dubbed so because neutrinos are so difficult to detect
Image: electron and positron pair in charged environment (source: relativity.li)
The Big Bang
The first nuclei were Hydrogen and Helium, the two smallest elements. Electrons began orbiting these nuclei after 380,000 years. Eventually stars formed formed after 150 to 200 million years. Stars were able to produce more complex elements through nuclear fusion, and released when a star dies.
The Big Bang is theory is the most popular theory for the origin of the universe. It was proposed in 1927 By Georges Lemaître. The theory suggests that the universe began at a single point as an extremely dense and hot plasma. A few millionths of a second after the universe began to expand, conditions allowed for quarks and electrons to exist. A few millionths after that protons and neutrons were created from these quarks, and the first nuclei formed some minutes later.
Image: timeline of the universe. (source: shutterstock via oxford university news blog)
The Higgs Boson
The Higgs boson is a manifestation of a wave in the Higgs field, and is only created in particle collisions. Evidence of its existance was only discovered in 2012.There are still many unanswered questions about the Higgs Boson, such as how it gets its own mass, and why this mass is so small.
The Higgs Field is the field that determines the mass of particles. The mass of a particle is determined by how much the particle's speed or position changes when it encounters the field.The Higgs field affects the entire universe, and affects all particles with a non-0 mass. Neutrinos have an extremely small mass and barely interact with the field.
Background microwaves
Evidence of the Big Bang
Since the radiation was travelling outwards, its wavelength elongated, causing the presence of background microwave radiation in the universe, which was first detected in 1965.
The Big Bang theory also predicted that there should be leftover radiation from the Big Bang. When the univerce was just plasma, it was opaque. But when matter spread out and became transparent, light could travel outwards.
Image: A heat map of the entire sky showing observations of background microwaves over nine years. (Source: NASA)
Gauge Bosons
Part 1
Gauge Bosons make up all bosons except the Higgs Boson. These are the gluon, photon, Z boson, and W boson.The gluon fascilitates strong force interactions. It is resposible for holding together nuclei. It has a mass of 0 and no charge. The only particles that interact with the strong force are quarks and gluons. The strong force is the strongest fundamental force, but only acts over a distance of 10-15metres, the diameter of a medium sized nucleus.
The photon fascilitates the electromagnetic force, and due to its rest mass of 0, the electromagnetic force has infinite range. However, a photon is still affected by gravity and can exert a force. The electromagnetic force affects quarks, electrons, muons, and tau particles, and the w boson (all particles with a charge).
Gauge Bosons
Part 2
The Z boson and the W boson are both exchange particles that fascilitate weak force interactions. The W boson can either be negatively or positively charged, and are involved in the changing of flavour of quarks. For example, by emitting a W- boson, a down quark can transform into an up quark, as it does in beta decay. The W boson can decay into many different particles, including electrons, muons, and tau particles (as well as their relative antineutrinos).The Z boson is neutrally charged and its interactions are much more subtle, as it does not affect the charge not mass of a particle, and is more involved in a type of interaction called the "neutral current".
The weak force is the same strength as the electromagentic force, but due to the mass of the W and Z bosons, it acts over a very small range (about 10-18 metres). The graviton has not yet been discovered, but many scientists believe it to exist and facscilitate gravity.
Fermions
There also exists an electron neutrino, a tau neutrino, and a muon neutrino. Neutrinos are very small in size and mass and have no charge, hence their name. They are emitted in many different types of particle decay, such as Beta decay and W boson decay (see Gauge Bosons), as well as being created in nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. They are the most common particle with mass in the universe. Due to only interacting with the weak force and gravity, these particles are constantly travelling through objects without interacting with any particles within them. As for neutrinos from nuclear fusion in the sun, for example, about 100 billion pass through your thumbnail every second.
Leptons
Leptons consist of electrons, muons, tau particles, and their neutrinos.Leptons do not experience the strong force. They are the lightest and simplest of the subatomic particles as they are fundamental. Muons and tau particles decay into electrons very quickly after being created (muons may be found in cosmic radiation). Electrons make up part of atoms, and allow chemical reactions to occur.
Lorem ipsum dolor
Consectetur adipiscing elit
The Standard Model of Particle Physics, developed in the early 1970s, tracks our understanding of the elementary particles (AKA the fundamental particles. These are split into two groups - Fermions and Bosons.
- Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
- Consectetur adipiscing elit.
- Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut.
- Labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Redshift
Evidence of the Big Bang
In fact, if observed from anywhere in the universe, there are more bodies moving away from you than towards you. This supports the big bang by suggesting that matter was moving away from one central point.
When observing celestial bodies from Earth, the light waves they emitt often have longer wavelengths than expected, that have been streched, making the light they emit appear closer to the "red" side of the light spectrum than expected. This is due to the doppler effect, and shows that these bodies are moving away from earth. In fact, if observed from anywhere in the universe, there are more bodies moving away from you than towards you. This supports the big bang by suggesting that matter was moving away from one central point.
Image: redshift vs blueshift. (Source: unknown)
The Standard Model
The matter-antimatter asymmetry problem:One great mystery in physics is why the objects we observe are made almost exclusively from matter. Theoretically, however, because particles and antiparticles re believed to have been created in equal amounts in the Big Bang, there should be an equal number of both.
The Standard Model of Particle Physics, developed in the early 1970s, tracks our understanding of the elementary particles (AKA the fundamental particles. These are split into two groups - Fermions and Bosons. Each particle in the standard model has a corresponding antiparticle. When these two particles collide, they annihilate, releasing energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation according to mass-energy conservation. Some particles, such as photons, gluons, and neutral pions, are their own antiparticles.
Image: A table of the fundamental particles. (Source: Wikimedia Commons: Miss J)
How Does Physics Explain the Origins of Matter?
Tom S
Created on June 9, 2023
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
View
Akihabara Connectors Infographic
View
Essential Infographic
View
Practical Infographic
View
Akihabara Infographic
View
Interactive QR Code Generator
View
Witchcraft vertical Infographic
View
Halloween Horizontal Infographic
Explore all templates
Transcript
How Does Physics Explain the Origins of Matter?
By Thomas Schaefer
The prompt question in the title of this presentation is a very complex one, and leads down many a rabbit hole. I believe that the best approach to understanding what matter is and how it was created is to understand the elementary particles (the particles that make up all other particles, or allow for matter to exist as it does), as well as explore the Big Bang as the most popular theory for the origin of the universe. Note: This is by no means a comprehensive explaination of the topics of this presentation, but rather an overview of them.
Thomas Schaefer
How Does Physics Explain the Origins of Matter?
What is matter?
How was matter created?
The Big Bang
Discovery of Particles
Background Microwaves
Redshift
The Standard Model
Images: Different Sections of a map of the Standard Model. (Source: Dominic Walliman, Domain of Science on Youtube).
The Standard Model
Bosons - Gauge Bosons
Fermions - Quarks
Bosons - Higgs Boson
Fermions - Leptons
Glossary
Bibliography
Note: apologies for poor picture quality, there was an issue with formatting. (Bibliography also submitted separately in higher quality) Special thanks to Tasha Higgins.
Fermions
Quarks
The flavour of a quark determines mass and charge, and a quark can "transform" to change flavour. For example, in Beta decay, as one down quark in a neutron becomes an up quark to form a proton. This may happen due to the exchange of W bosons.
Quarks make up Hadrons, which are usually either baryons - consisting of three quarks (such as protons and neutrons) or mesons - consisting of one quark and one antiquark (such as a pion). There are 6 flavours of quark, each of which has three colours (each colour of each flavour also having a corresponding antiparticle, called an antiquark).
The Positron was discovered in 1932, when Carl Anderson was using a cloud chamber with a charge running through it to observe cosmic radiation showers, he observed a particle that had the same mass and size as an electron, but an opposite charge. He called this anti-electron a positron.The Higgs field was proposed in 1964 to explain why particles have mass The Higgs Boson was only detected in 2012, and confirmed to exist in 2013, through detections of experiments using a particle accelerator at CERN.
Discovery of Particles
The Neutron - the neutron was discovered when scientists discovered a type of radiation that was penetrating, but non-ionising, and did not match observations about photons. The neutrino - the neutrino was predicted to fix an issue with the energy conservation in beta decay, It was eventually detected by scientists at the Los Almos National Laborator in project poltergeist, dubbed so because neutrinos are so difficult to detect
Image: electron and positron pair in charged environment (source: relativity.li)
The Big Bang
The first nuclei were Hydrogen and Helium, the two smallest elements. Electrons began orbiting these nuclei after 380,000 years. Eventually stars formed formed after 150 to 200 million years. Stars were able to produce more complex elements through nuclear fusion, and released when a star dies.
The Big Bang is theory is the most popular theory for the origin of the universe. It was proposed in 1927 By Georges Lemaître. The theory suggests that the universe began at a single point as an extremely dense and hot plasma. A few millionths of a second after the universe began to expand, conditions allowed for quarks and electrons to exist. A few millionths after that protons and neutrons were created from these quarks, and the first nuclei formed some minutes later.
Image: timeline of the universe. (source: shutterstock via oxford university news blog)
The Higgs Boson
The Higgs boson is a manifestation of a wave in the Higgs field, and is only created in particle collisions. Evidence of its existance was only discovered in 2012.There are still many unanswered questions about the Higgs Boson, such as how it gets its own mass, and why this mass is so small.
The Higgs Field is the field that determines the mass of particles. The mass of a particle is determined by how much the particle's speed or position changes when it encounters the field.The Higgs field affects the entire universe, and affects all particles with a non-0 mass. Neutrinos have an extremely small mass and barely interact with the field.
Background microwaves
Evidence of the Big Bang
Since the radiation was travelling outwards, its wavelength elongated, causing the presence of background microwave radiation in the universe, which was first detected in 1965.
The Big Bang theory also predicted that there should be leftover radiation from the Big Bang. When the univerce was just plasma, it was opaque. But when matter spread out and became transparent, light could travel outwards.
Image: A heat map of the entire sky showing observations of background microwaves over nine years. (Source: NASA)
Gauge Bosons
Part 1
Gauge Bosons make up all bosons except the Higgs Boson. These are the gluon, photon, Z boson, and W boson.The gluon fascilitates strong force interactions. It is resposible for holding together nuclei. It has a mass of 0 and no charge. The only particles that interact with the strong force are quarks and gluons. The strong force is the strongest fundamental force, but only acts over a distance of 10-15metres, the diameter of a medium sized nucleus.
The photon fascilitates the electromagnetic force, and due to its rest mass of 0, the electromagnetic force has infinite range. However, a photon is still affected by gravity and can exert a force. The electromagnetic force affects quarks, electrons, muons, and tau particles, and the w boson (all particles with a charge).
Gauge Bosons
Part 2
The Z boson and the W boson are both exchange particles that fascilitate weak force interactions. The W boson can either be negatively or positively charged, and are involved in the changing of flavour of quarks. For example, by emitting a W- boson, a down quark can transform into an up quark, as it does in beta decay. The W boson can decay into many different particles, including electrons, muons, and tau particles (as well as their relative antineutrinos).The Z boson is neutrally charged and its interactions are much more subtle, as it does not affect the charge not mass of a particle, and is more involved in a type of interaction called the "neutral current".
The weak force is the same strength as the electromagentic force, but due to the mass of the W and Z bosons, it acts over a very small range (about 10-18 metres). The graviton has not yet been discovered, but many scientists believe it to exist and facscilitate gravity.
Fermions
There also exists an electron neutrino, a tau neutrino, and a muon neutrino. Neutrinos are very small in size and mass and have no charge, hence their name. They are emitted in many different types of particle decay, such as Beta decay and W boson decay (see Gauge Bosons), as well as being created in nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. They are the most common particle with mass in the universe. Due to only interacting with the weak force and gravity, these particles are constantly travelling through objects without interacting with any particles within them. As for neutrinos from nuclear fusion in the sun, for example, about 100 billion pass through your thumbnail every second.
Leptons
Leptons consist of electrons, muons, tau particles, and their neutrinos.Leptons do not experience the strong force. They are the lightest and simplest of the subatomic particles as they are fundamental. Muons and tau particles decay into electrons very quickly after being created (muons may be found in cosmic radiation). Electrons make up part of atoms, and allow chemical reactions to occur.
Lorem ipsum dolor
Consectetur adipiscing elit
The Standard Model of Particle Physics, developed in the early 1970s, tracks our understanding of the elementary particles (AKA the fundamental particles. These are split into two groups - Fermions and Bosons.
Redshift
Evidence of the Big Bang
In fact, if observed from anywhere in the universe, there are more bodies moving away from you than towards you. This supports the big bang by suggesting that matter was moving away from one central point.
When observing celestial bodies from Earth, the light waves they emitt often have longer wavelengths than expected, that have been streched, making the light they emit appear closer to the "red" side of the light spectrum than expected. This is due to the doppler effect, and shows that these bodies are moving away from earth. In fact, if observed from anywhere in the universe, there are more bodies moving away from you than towards you. This supports the big bang by suggesting that matter was moving away from one central point.
Image: redshift vs blueshift. (Source: unknown)
The Standard Model
The matter-antimatter asymmetry problem:One great mystery in physics is why the objects we observe are made almost exclusively from matter. Theoretically, however, because particles and antiparticles re believed to have been created in equal amounts in the Big Bang, there should be an equal number of both.
The Standard Model of Particle Physics, developed in the early 1970s, tracks our understanding of the elementary particles (AKA the fundamental particles. These are split into two groups - Fermions and Bosons. Each particle in the standard model has a corresponding antiparticle. When these two particles collide, they annihilate, releasing energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation according to mass-energy conservation. Some particles, such as photons, gluons, and neutral pions, are their own antiparticles.
Image: A table of the fundamental particles. (Source: Wikimedia Commons: Miss J)