top quark

American  

noun

Physics.

1. a heavy quark having electric charge 2/3 times the elementary charge.

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top quark Scientific  

/ tŏp /

1. A quark with a charge of +2/3. Its mass is larger than that of all the other quarks and is about 360,000 times that of the electron.

2. See Table at subatomic particle

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Etymology

Origin of top quark

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Two sets of similar but heavier particles can pop into brief existence: the muon, muon neutrino, charm quark, and strange quark; and the tau, tau neutrino, top quark, and bottom quark.

From Science Magazine

It was a rough measurement of the W boson mass that allowed physicists in 1990 to predict the mass of the top quark with reasonable accuracy five years before that particle was first observed.

From Scientific American

And the third comprises the top quark, the bottom quark, the tau and the tau neutrino, where the charged fermions are even more massive.

From Nature

In June, researchers revealed that they had also seen the Higgs interact with the top quark.

From Nature

In June, researchers revealed that they had also seen the Higgs interact with the top quark, the most massive known elementary particle.

From Nature