Elementary particle: what is it?

Few people do not know such a thing as "electron", and after all it means "elementary particle". Of course, most people have little idea what it is and why it is needed. On TV, in books, in newspapers and magazines, these particles are depicted as small dots or balls. Because of this, uneducated people believe that the shape of the particles is indeed spherical, and that they freely fly, interact, collide, etc. But such a judgment is fundamentally wrong. The concept of an elementary particle is extremely difficult to comprehend, but it is never too late to try to get at least a very approximate idea of the nature of these particles.

At the beginning of the last century, scientists were seriously puzzled by why the electron does not fall on the atomic nucleus, since, according to Newtonian mechanics, with the release of all its energy, it must simply fall on the nucleus. To the surprise, this does not happen. How can I explain this?

The fact is that in its classical interpretation, physics and the elementary particle are incompatible things. It does not obey any laws of ordinary physics, since it operates according to the principles of quantum mechanics. The fundamental principle here is uncertainty. He says that it is impossible to accurately and simultaneously determine two interconnected quantities. The more the first of them is determined, the less one can determine the second one. This definition is followed by quantum correlations, corpuscular-wave dualism, tunnel effect, wave function, and much more.

The first important factor is the uncertainty of the coordinate-momentum. Starting from the foundations of classical mechanics, we can recall that the concepts of momentum and the trajectory of the body are inseparable and always clearly defined. Let's try to transfer this pattern to the microscopic world. For example, an elementary particle has an exact impulse. Then, when trying to determine the trajectory of the movement, we will encounter the indeterminacy of the coordinate. This means that the electron is detected immediately at all points of a small volume of space. If we try to focus precisely on the trajectory of its motion, then the impulse acquires a diffuse meaning.

From this it follows that no matter how hard we try to determine any particular value, the second immediately becomes vague. This principle is based on the wave property of particles. The electron does not have a clear coordinate. It can be said that it is simultaneously located at all points of space, which is limited by the wavelength. Such a representation allows us to more clearly understand what an elementary particle is.

Approximately the same uncertainty arises in the energy-time relationship. The particle constantly interacts, even in the presence of a physical vacuum. This interaction lasts for some time. If we imagine that this indicator is more or less certain, then the energy becomes indeterminate. This violates the accepted laws of conservation of energy in the pawned short spaces.

The presented regularity generates low-energy particles - quanta of fundamental fields. Such a field is not a continuous substance. It consists of the smallest particles. The interaction between them is provided by the emission of photons, which are absorbed by other particles. This maintains the energy level and produces stable elementary particles that can not fall on the core.

Elementary particles are inherently inseparable, although differ from each other by their mass and certain characteristics. Therefore, certain classifications have been developed. For example, the type of interaction can be distinguished leptons and hadrons. The Hadrons, in turn, are divided into mesons, which consist of two quarks, and baryons, in which there are three quarks. The most famous baryons are neutrons and protons.

Elementary particles and their properties make it possible to distinguish two more classes: bosons (with integer and zero spins), fermions (with half-integral spin). Each particle has its own antiparticle with opposite characteristics. Only protons, leptons and neutrons are stable. All other particles are subject to decay and become stable particles.