A scalar boson is a boson whose spin equals zero. ''Boson'' means that the particle's wave function is symmetric under particle exchange and therefore follows Bose–Einstein statistics. The spin-statistics theorem implies that all bosons have an integer-valued spin; the ''scalar'' fixes this value to zero. The name ''scalar boson'' arises from

quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and ...

, which demands that fields of spin-zero particles transform like a scalar under Lorentz transformation (i.e. are Lorentz invariant). A pseudoscalar boson is a scalar boson that has odd

parity Parity may refer to: * Parity (computing) ** Parity bit in computing, sets the parity of data for the purpose of error detection ** Parity flag in computing, indicates if the number of set bits is odd or even in the binary representation of the ...

, whereas "regular" scalar bosons have even parity.

Examples

Scalar

* The only fundamental scalar boson in the

Standard Model The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces ( electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions - excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying all known elementary particles. It ...

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

is the

Higgs boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the fields in particle physics theory. In the Stan ...

, the existence of which was confirmed on 14 March 2013 at the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundr ...

by CMS and ATLAS. As a result of this confirmation, the 2013

Nobel Prize in physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

was awarded to

Peter Higgs Peter Ware Higgs (born 29 May 1929) is a British theoretical physicist, Emeritus Professor in the University of Edinburgh,Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008The Missing Piece ''Edit'' the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17 and Nobel Prize ...

and François Englert. * Various known composite particles are scalar bosons, e.g. the

alpha particle Alpha particles, also called alpha rays or alpha radiation, consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium-4 nucleus. They are generally produced in the process of alpha decay, but may also be prod ...

and scalar mesons. * The ''φ''⁴-theory or '' Quartic interaction'' is a popular " toy model" quantum field theory that uses scalar bosonic fields, used in many introductory quantum textbooks to introduce basic concepts in field theory.

Pseudoscalar

* There are no fundamental pseudoscalars in the Standard Model, but there are pseudoscalar mesons, like the pion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scalar Boson Bosons Quantum field theory

Examples

Scalar

Pseudoscalar

See also

References