Introduction

Abstract

The Standard Model is the fundamental theory of particle physics. Developed and tested over the past 50 years, the Standard Model provides a tool kit of particles, forces, and conservation laws physicists may use to describe the universe at its most basic level. Qualitatively, the Standard Model consists of 17 particles and their anti-particles, as well as three fundamental forces. The 17 particles which make up the standard model are divided into two classes depending on the intrinsic spin of the particle, as illustrated in Fig. 1.1. Bosons are particles with integer spin and act as carriers of the three fundamental forces the Standard Model describes. These three fores are, in order of strength, the electromagnetic (EM), the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force. The boson which mediates the electromagnetic force is the massless photon, and the gluon mediates the strong nuclear force. The weak nuclear force is mediated by three bosons, W ⁺, W ⁻, and Z ⁰. The final boson, the Higgs boson, bestows mass on all the other particles by coupling them to the Higgs field. Fermions are particles with spins which are an odd multiple of $\frac{1} {2}$, and comprise most of the everyday world.