Summary of some aspects of the Standard Model of particle physics.
science
physics
particle physics
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Story behind the song
The song supplements a lecture on the Standard Model of particle physics at the introductory level. The occasional upward and downward streaks of the lead guitar are supposed to represent short-lived particles that are created in high-energy collisions, for example at the Large Hadron Collider, that streak through the detector.
Lyrics
Chorus:
Welcome to the particle zoo, where each species has a job to do
Constrained by laws of conservation, some can hide from observation
If virtually exchanged between another two, welcome to the particle zoo
1. Triplets of quarks stay together with gluons acting as their tether
Protons are two up, one down, neutrons one up, two down
Other combos are possible, but all are quite unstable
And decay almost as soon as they are formed
And decay almost as soon as they are formed
2. Fundamental are the electrons, and the anti-matter positrons
So are all the photons and several other types of bosons
Most move extremely fast, and the Higgs boson bestows mass
On all the particles with this property
On all the particles with this property
[Chorus]
Ending:
Six quarks and six leptons are all the world's built on
We mostly notice only three, the main ones in you and me
Negatively charged electrons, up and down quarks in nucleons
And the main fundamental bosons: the photons and the gluons
But all the rest we still need to make the universe complete
Welcome to the particle zoo