Types ( ¯ )

Generations ( ® )

Antiparticle

Colors

Total

Quarks

2

3

Pair

3

36

Leptons

2

3

Pair

None

12

Gluons

1

1

Own

8

8

W

1

1

Pair

None

2

Z

1

1

Own

None

1

Photon

1

1

Own

None

1

Higgs

1

1

Own

None

1

Total

61

Standard model for elementary particles—not showing
weak isospin or color:

12 fundamental fermions and 4 fundamental bosons (see Particle Data Group for recent mass).

Fermions: the 12 elementary particles of spin ½ due
to which they respect the Pauli exclusion principle (integer spin particles do
not). Quarks carry color charge, and so interact
by the strong force. Due to color confinement
quarks are nearly perpetually bound to one another,
forming color-neutral composite particles—hadrons—containing
either a quark and an antiquark—mesons—or three quarks—baryons. The proton and the neutron are the two
smallest mass baryons. Quarks also carry electric charge and weak isospin. Hence they
interact with other fermions electromagnetically
and via the weak interaction. Leptons are remaining six fermions which do not carry
color charge. The neutrinos do not carry electric charge either—their motion is directly
influenced only by the weak nuclear force—which makes them difficult to detect. By virtue of electric
charge, the electron, muon, and tau all interact electromagnetically.

Bosons do not
obey the exclusion principle, so there is no limit to the number that can occupy
the same quantum state;
mesons and stable nuclei of even mass number such as deuterium, and helium-4 are
bosons—thus superfluidity. Gauge bosons are spin
1 force carriers that mediate the strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions; their macroscopic counterparts are fields.
If the perturbation approximation is interpreted literally, the interaction occurs
by particle interchange. The massless photon mediates the electromagnetic force and is well-described
by quantum electrodynamics. The massive
W+, W−, and Z gauge bosons mediate
the weak forces between particles of different flavors (all quarks and leptons).
Weak interactions involving the W± exclusively
act on left and right handed antiparticles
only. The eight—massless—gluons mediate
the strong
forces between color particles (quarks); their eightfold multiplicity is labeled
by a combination of color and anticolor charge (e.g. red–anti-green). Because
gluons have an effective color charge, they can also interact among themselves.
Gluons and their interactions are described by quantum chromodynamics. The
Higgs Boson is a scalar—spin 0—massive particle, tentatively confirmed
March 14, 2013 that explains masses of leptons, quarks, and Z, W, and Higgs bosons
(via electroweak force) and masslessness of gluons and photons.