elementary particles
Elementary particles are the fundamental building blocks of matter. They are the smallest known units that cannot be broken down into smaller components. The most well-known types of elementary particles include quarks, leptons, and bosons. Quarks combine to form protons and neutrons, which make up atomic nuclei, while leptons include particles like electrons.
These particles interact through fundamental forces, mediated by gauge bosons. For example, the photon is the gauge boson responsible for electromagnetic interactions. Understanding elementary particles is crucial for the field of particle physics, which explores the nature of matter and the universe at its most basic level.