boson

[ boh-son ]

/ ˈboʊ sɒn /

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noun Physics.

any particle that obeys Bose-Einstein statistics: bosons have integral spins: 0, 1, 2, …

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Compare fermion.

Origin of boson

1945–50; named after S. N. Bose (1894–1974), Indian physicist; see -on¹

Words nearby boson

bosom, bosom buddy, bosomed, bosom friend, bosomy, boson, Bosporus, bosquet, boss, bossage, bossa nova

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use boson in a sentence

The “strong evidence” for this W particle, or W boson, fell apart under additional scrutiny.
50 years ago, physicists thought they found the W boson. They hadn’t|Erin Garcia de Jesús|August 20, 2021|Science News
Weighing the W boson narrowed down the Higgs’ mass range, making the Higgs easier to look for.
50 years ago, physicists thought they found the W boson. They hadn’t|Erin Garcia de Jesús|August 20, 2021|Science News
Physicists continue unraveling W boson mysteries, such as how the particles form and whether more massive versions exist.
50 years ago, physicists thought they found the W boson. They hadn’t|Erin Garcia de Jesús|August 20, 2021|Science News
Multiwire proportional chambers and their descendants revolutionized particle physics, and led to discoveries of particles such as the charm quark and the gluon in the 1970s, and the W and Z bosons in the 1980s.
How particle detectors capture matter’s hidden, beautiful reality|Emily Conover|August 5, 2021|Science News

It strongly suggested that something was missing from the theoretical calculation, something like a dark matter particle or an extra force-carrying boson.
‘Last Hope’ Experiment Finds Evidence for Unknown Particles|Natalie Wolchover|April 7, 2021|Quanta Magazine
For 50 years, scientists had predicted the existence of the particle we now know as Higgs boson, which gives mass to matter.
Give It Up for the Other Nobel Prize Winners|Nina Strochlic|October 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
NPR's All Things Considered interviews Dick Teresi, the man credited with naming the Higgs-Boson Particle the "God Particle."
Not Quite the 'God' Particle|Justin Green|March 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Higgs boson is a propagating ripple in the Higgs field, much like sound is a propagating ripple in the air.
After the Higgs Boson: What Scientists Will Do With the Discovery|Sean Carroll|July 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The Higgs boson discovery revolutionizes the world of physics.
After the Higgs Boson: What Scientists Will Do With the Discovery|Sean Carroll|July 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
On December 13 came the news that something exciting was beginning to show–perhaps a Higgs Boson.
Finding Higgs Boson, or God Particle, Will Resolve Scientific Mysteries|Frank Close|December 17, 2011|DAILY BEAST
A group of deck-hands snickered, and the boson pretended to climb down from the rigging.
Wide Courses|James Brendan Connolly
Aloft was the boson, apparently rigging up some sort of a hoisting arrangement.
Wide Courses|James Brendan Connolly
In the Rue Boson is another edifice which may have something in common with the life of the first Burgundian court.
Castles and Chateaux of Old Burgundy|Francis Miltoun
I have written to secure my grandson Boson a view of the ceremony.
Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino v.2/3, 1836-1840|Duchesse De Dino
“Advice from a friend in the country to his neighbour who went up to receive £16,000 in London,” by John Boson.
A Handbook of the Cornish Language|Henry Jenner

British Dictionary definitions for boson

boson

/ (ˈbəʊzɒn) /

noun

any of a group of elementary particles, such as a photon or pion, that has zero or integral spin and obeys the rules of Bose-Einstein statisticsCompare fermion

Word Origin for boson

C20: named after Satyendra Nath Bose; see -on

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for boson

boson

[ bō′sŏn ]

Any of a class of elementary or composite particles, including the photon, pion, and gluon, that are not subject to the Pauli exclusion principle (that is, any two bosons can potentially be in the same quantum state). The value of the spin of a boson is always an integer. Mesons are bosons, as are the gauge bosons (the particles that mediate the fundamental forces). They are named after the physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. Compare fermion. See Note at elementary particle. See Table at subatomic particle.