strange particle
- any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.
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Origin of strange particle
First recorded in 1955–60; originally so called because of the anomalously long decay time of such particles
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
strange particle
- Any of various unstable elementary particles, having a short half-life and a nonzero strangeness quantum number. Sigma and xi baryons, for example, are strange particles.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.