boson

American  

[boh-son] / ˈboʊ sɒn /

noun

Physics.

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

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boson British  

/ ˈbəʊzɒn /

noun

1. 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 statistics Compare fermion

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boson Scientific  

/ bō′sŏn /

1. 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.

2. Compare fermion See Note at elementary particle See Table at subatomic particle

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Etymology

Origin of boson

1945–50; named after S. N. Bose (1894–1974), Indian physicist; -on ¹

Compare meaning

How does boson compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• boson vs. fermion

Example Sentences

In the Standard Model of particle physics, mass arises through interactions with the Higgs field, which gives weight to particles such as the W and Z bosons.

From Science Daily

Take the discovery of the Higgs boson, a particle that helps explain why anything has mass—and thus why atoms, molecules and matter itself can exist.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Basically, this collapse produces a lot of particles, including the right-handed neutrinos, the scalar bosons, and the gauge boson, like a shower," study co-author Hamada explains.

From Science Daily

These particles, called ultralight bosons, are predicted by some theories that go beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes and classifies all known elementary particles.

From Science Daily

Nobel prize-winning British physicist, who gave his name to the "Higgs boson", a particle that helps explain why the basic building blocks of the Universe - atoms - have mass.

From BBC