Boson

In <a href="/facts/Particle_physics/YgIuyj2t">particle physics</a>, a boson is a <a href="/facts/Subatomic_particle/tMEzcTWQ">subatomic particle</a> whose <a href="/facts/Spin_quantum_number/5Nh2H8gr">spin quantum number</a> has an <a href="/facts/Integer/PUwwrawx">integer</a> value (0, 1, 2, ...). Bosons form one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particle, the other being <a href="/facts/Fermion/LEckdDsR">fermions</a>, which have half odd-integer spin (1/2, 3/2, 5/2, ...). Every observed subatomic particle is either a boson or a fermion. <a href="/facts/Paul_Dirac/6bt5yRdk">Paul Dirac</a> coined the name boson to commemorate the contribution of <a href="/facts/Satyendra_Nath_Bose/rC6y84HS">Satyendra Nath Bose</a>, an Indian physicist.
Some bosons are <a href="/facts/Elementary_particle/CTFDM97U">elementary particles</a> occupying a special role in particle physics, distinct from the role of fermions (which are sometimes described as the constituents of "ordinary matter"). Certain elementary bosons (e.g. <a href="/facts/Gluon/t6YH8I21">gluons</a>) act as <a href="/facts/Force_carrier/GFco0Bk1">force carriers</a>, which give rise to forces between other particles, while one (the <a href="/facts/Higgs_boson/3LAYXfft">Higgs boson</a>) contributes to the phenomenon of <a href="/facts/Mass/HHdc8XmF">mass</a>. Other bosons, such as <a href="/facts/Meson/9R0kIc1q">mesons</a>, are composite particles made up of smaller constituents.
Outside the realm of particle physics, multiple identical composite bosons behave at high densities or low temperatures in a characteristic manner described by <a href="/facts/Bose%25E2%2580%2593Einstein_statistics/Utb2jN3n">Bose–Einstein statistics</a>: for example, a gas of <a href="/facts/Helium-4/vNsL5qhC">helium-4</a> atoms becomes a <a href="/facts/Superfluid_helium-4/J0YToKcL">superfluid</a> at temperatures close to absolute zero. Similarly, <a href="/facts/Superconductivity/pqQAlSzJ">superconductivity</a> arises because some <a href="/facts/Quasiparticle/Bpx2MNpb">quasiparticles</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Cooper_pair/uHILVyXu">Cooper pairs</a>, behave in this characteristic manner.

Boson open-in-new

Boson