The quantum part of quantum physics

Simultaneously with the physics of the atomic nucleus, the rapid development of elementary particle physics began. The discovered universal interconvertibility of elementary particles indicated that not all of these particles are elementary in the absolute sense of the word, but have a complex internal structure. 12 elementary fermions (with spin s = 1/2) and 4 bosons (with spin s = 1) have been experimentally discovered, not counting the corresponding antiparticles. Twelve fermions are divided into 3 generations, each of which has 2 leptons and 2 quarks. Names and designations of quarks (M. Gell Mann and G. Zweig, 1964) come from the English words: u - up, d - down, s - strangeness, c - charm, b - bottom (also beauty), t - top (also truth). Quarks have a fractional electric charge and serve as elementary components of strongly interacting particles. According to modern concepts, quarks are structureless. Each charged fermion has its own antiparticle. Whether neutrinos have antiparticles is still unknown. It is possible that they (at least some of them) are truly neutral, i.e. they are their own antiparticles. Such truly neutral neutrinos are called majorana, in contrast to the

usual ones, which are called Dirac. Currently, it is established that all neutrinos are majorana and their mass is different from zero. The available data limit the mass of all neutrinos to a value of 2...3 eV. This is the upper limit, perhaps the mass is much less. An undoubted achievement of modern physics is a clear understanding of the hierarchical structure of stable matter from the simplest fundamental particles to the universe. A stable substance is built of only three quarks – u, d and an electron.