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W particle

noun

, Physics.
  1. either of two types of charged intermediate vector bosons, one having a positive charge and the other a negative charge. : W + , W


W particle

noun

  1. physics a type of elementary particle with either a positive or negative charge considered to transmit the weak interaction between other elementary particles. W particles have a rest mass of 1.435 × 10 –25kg Also calledW boson See also Z particle
“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

W particle

  1. See W boson
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Word History and Origins

Origin of W particle1

First recorded in 1970–75; apparently for weak
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Example Sentences

At times, the narratives feel disjointed and bogged down in arcane details and enigmatic concepts, for example, in a passage where Bobby discusses the theories of the physicist Steven Weinberg: “Still he figured that if you had these neutrino-nucleon collisions that spun off the W particle and gave you a lepton with the opposite charge you’d have to get a Z particle every once in a while. And since the Z carried no charge this meant that the neutrino coming in would stay a neutrino.”

That would also include studies of the W particle and bottom quark, which would also be produced in profusion.

The W particle will then decay in a characteristic way, leaving an unambiguous record of the neutrino’s passage.

The detection of the W particle is an example of extraordinary scientific sleuthing, comparable to finding a missing person in a crowd of a billion people.

Using one of the world's most powerful atom smashers, Italy's Carlo Rubbia, 48, and his team of 134 European and American scientists appear to have snared a trophy that has been the dream of physicists for two generations: discovery of the so-called W particle, the elusive carrier of one of the universe's basic forces.

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