Particle physics

This free course, Particle physics, will give you an overview of current concepts and theories in the field. You will learn about the fundamental components of matter – known as leptons and quarks – and the composite particles, such as protons and neutrons, which are composed of quarks. You will see that all particle reactions may be described in terms of one of two fundamental interactions, known as the strong and the weak interactions, responsible for binding particles together and allowing them to change type, respectively.This OpenLearn science course was updated with the kind support of Dangoor Education340, the educational arm of The Exilarch's Foundation.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1  Particle physics in context
• 1  Particle physics in context
• 2  Leptons
• 2  Leptons
• 3  Quarks
• 3  Quarks
• 4  Hadrons
• 4  Hadrons
• 4.1 Building a hadron
• 5  High-energy reactions
• 5  High-energy reactions
• 6  Strong interactions
• 6  Strong interactions
• 6.1  Gluons
• 6.2  Quantum chromodynamics
• 7  Beta-decay at the level of quarks and leptons
• 7  Beta-decay at the level of quarks and leptons
• 8  Weak interactions
• 8  Weak interactions
• 8.1 W and Z bosons
• 8.2 The survival of the neutron
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• Acknowledgements