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-as of [18 OCTOBER 2024]-
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-3 [GENERATIONS]-
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*2 TYPES* —>
‘CHARGED PARTICLES’
(‘electron’ / ‘muon’ / ‘tauon’)
‘NEUTRINOS’
(no charge)
(‘electron neutrino’ / ‘muon neutrino’ / ‘tauon neutrino’)
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(greek word “leptós”)
“fine / small / thin”
léon rosenfeld
belgian-jewish physicist
1948
(also a ‘marxist’)
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-a lepton is an [‘elementary’ / ‘half-integer spin’ (spin 1⁄2)] particle that does not undergo ‘strong interactions’-
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(can you see my orbitals?)
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(2 main classes of “leptons” exist…)
“charged leptons”
(also known as the ‘electron-like leptons’)
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“neutral leptons”
(better known as “neutrinos”)
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(‘charged leptons’ can combine with other particles to form various composite particles such as “atoms” and “positronium”, while “neutrinos” rarely interact with anything, and are consequently rarely observed)
(the best known of all “leptons” is the “electron”)
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(there are 6 types of ‘leptons’, known as flavors, forming 3 “generations”…)
(the ‘1st generation’ is the electronic leptons, comprising the ‘electron’ (e−) and ‘electron neutrino’ (νe))
(the ‘2nd generation’ is the muonic leptons, comprising the ‘muon’ (μ−) and ‘muon neutrino’ (νμ))
(the ‘3rd generation’ is the tauonic leptons, comprising the ‘tau (τ−)’ and the ‘tau neutrino’ (ντ))
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(“electrons” have the ‘least mass’ of all the ‘charged leptons’)
(the heavier “muons” and “taus” will rapidly change into “electrons” and “neutrinos” through a process of “particle decay”: the transformation from a higher ‘mass state’ to a lower ‘mass state’)
(thus “electrons” are stable and the most common charged lepton in the universe, whereas “muons” and “taus” can only be produced in high energy collisions (such as those involving cosmic rays and those carried out in particle accelerators).
(“leptons” have various intrinsic properties, including “electric charge” / “spin”/ “mass”)
(unlike “quarks” however, “leptons” are not subject to the “strong interaction”, but they are subject to the other 3 “fundamental interactions”: ‘gravitation’, ‘electromagnetism’ (excluding ‘neutrinos’, which are electrically neutral), and the ‘weak interaction’)
(for every lepton ‘flavor’ there is a corresponding type of “antiparticle”, known as an “antilepton”, that differs from the lepton only in that some of its properties have ‘equal magnitude’ but ‘opposite sign’)
(however, according to certain theories, ‘neutrinos’ may be their own ‘antiparticle’, but it is not currently known whether this is the case or not)
(the first ‘charged lepton’, the ‘electron’, was theorized in the mid-19th century by several scientists and was discovered in 1897 by “J. J. Thomson”)
(the next lepton to be observed was the ‘muon’, discovered by ‘Carl D. Anderson’ in 1936, which was classified as a ‘meson’ at the time)
(after investigation, it was realized that the ‘muon’ did not have the expected properties of a ‘meson’, but rather behaved like an ‘electron’, only with higher mass)
(it took until 1947 for the concept of “leptons” as a family of particle to be proposed)
(the first ‘neutrino’, the ‘electron neutrino’, was proposed by ‘wolfgang pauli’ in 1930 to explain certain characteristics of ‘beta decay’)
(it was first observed in the “cowan–reines neutrino experiment” conducted by “clyde cowan” and “frederick reines” in 1956)
(the “muon neutrino” was discovered in 1962 by ‘leon m. lederman’, ‘melvin schwartz’, and ‘jack steinberger’, and the “tau” discovered between ‘1974’ and ‘1977’ by “martin lewis perl” and his colleagues from the “stanford linear accelerator center” and “lawrence berkeley national laboratory”)
(the ‘tau neutrino’ remained elusive until ‘july 2000’, when the DONUT collaboration from ‘fermilab’ announced its discovery)
(“leptons” are an important part of the “standard model”)
(“electrons” are one of the components of ‘atoms’, alongside “protons” and “neutrons”)
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(“exotic atoms” with ‘muons + ‘taus’ instead of “electrons” can also be synthesized, as well as “lepton–anti-lepton particles” such as “positronium”)
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*👨🔬🕵️♀️🙇♀️*SKETCHES*🙇♂️👩🔬🕵️♂️*
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💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥