meson

American  

[mee-zon, ‑son, mez-on, mes‑] / ˈmi zɒn, ‑sɒn, ˈmɛz ɒn, ˈmɛs‑ /

noun

1. Physics. any hadron, or strongly interacting particle, other than a baryon. Mesons are bosons, having spins of 0, 1, 2, …, and, unlike baryons, do not obey a conservation law.

---

meson British  

/ ˈmiːzɒn /

noun

1. Former name: mesotron.  any of a group of elementary particles, such as a pion or kaon, that usually has a rest mass between those of an electron and a proton, and an integral spin. They are responsible for the force between nucleons in the atomic nucleus See also muon

---

meson Scientific  

/ mĕz′ŏn′,mĕs′-,mē′zŏn′,-sŏn′ /

1. Any of a family of subatomic particles that are composed of a quark and an antiquark. Their masses are generally intermediate between leptons and baryons, and they can have positive, negative, or neutral charge. Mesons form a subclass of hadrons and include the kaon, pion and J/psi particles. Mesons were originally believed to be the particles that mediated the strong nuclear force, but it has since been shown that the gluon mediates this force.

2. See Table at subatomic particle

---

meson Cultural  

1. An elementary particle in the atomic nucleus.

---

Other Word Forms

• mesonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of meson

1935–40; mes- + -on ¹ ( def. ); mesotron

Example Sentences

The track she was looking at, later labelled k, was evidence of an unknown particle, now known as the kaon or K meson.

From BBC

The theorists had missed something big: Electromagnetic fields may not be strong enough to affect the phi mesons’ spin, but what about fields generated by the strong force?

From Scientific American

This could have pointed to the existence of previously unseen elementary particles that affect the decay of B mesons.

From Scientific American

The Belle II experiment in Japan, which is dedicated to investigating B meson decays, is also gathering new evidence.

From Scientific American

Muon neutrinos fly from the decays of fleeting particles called pi-plus mesons, which can be produced by smashing a beam of protons into a target.

From Science Magazine