The Particle Data Group (or PDG) is an international collaboration of

particle physicists Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standa ...

that compiles and reanalyzes published results related to the properties of

particles In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from ...

and

fundamental interaction In physics, the fundamental interactions, also known as fundamental forces, are the interactions that do not appear to be reducible to more basic interactions. There are four fundamental interactions known to exist: the gravitational and electr ...

s. It also publishes reviews of theoretical results that are phenomenologically relevant, including those in related fields such as

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosophe ...

. The PDG currently publishes the ''Review of Particle Physics'' and its pocket version, the ''Particle Physics Booklet'', which are printed biennially as books, and updated annually via the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

. In previous years, the PDG has published the ''Pocket Diary for Physicists'', a calendar with the dates of key international conferences and contact information of major

high energy 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) and b ...

institutions, which is now discontinued. PDG also further maintains the standard numbering scheme for particles in

event generator Event generators are software libraries that generate simulated high-energy particle physics events. They randomly generate events as those produced in particle accelerators, collider experiments or the early universe. Events come in different types ...

s, in association with the event generator authors.

''Review of Particle Physics''

The ''Review of Particle Physics'' (formerly ''Review of Particle Properties'', ''Data on Particles and Resonant States'', and ''Data on Elementary Particles and Resonant States'') is a voluminous, 1,200+ page reference work which summarizes particle properties and reviews the current status of

elementary 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) and b ...

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics. ...

and

big-bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

cosmology. Usually singled out for

citation analysis Citation analysis is the examination of the frequency, patterns, and graphs of citations in documents. It uses the directed graph of citations — links from one document to another document — to reveal properties of the documents. A ty ...

, it is currently the most cited article in

, being cited more than 2,000 times annually in the scientific literature (). The Review is currently divided into 3 sections: * Particle Physics Summary Tables—Brief tables of particles:

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

and

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 St ...

lepton In particle physics, a lepton is an elementary particle of half-integer spin (spin (physics), spin ) that does not undergo strong interactions. Two main classes of leptons exist: electric charge, charged leptons (also known as the electron-li ...

quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All common ...

meson In particle physics, a meson ( or ) is a type of hadronic subatomic particle composed of an equal number of quarks and antiquarks, usually one of each, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of quark subparticle ...

baryon In particle physics, a baryon is a type of composite subatomic particle which contains an odd number of valence quarks (at least 3). Baryons belong to the hadron family of particles; hadrons are composed of quarks. Baryons are also classi ...

s, constraints for the search for hypothetical particles and violation of physical laws. * Reviews, Tables and Plots—Review of fundamental concepts from mathematics and statistics, table of Clebsch-Gordan coefficients,

periodic table of elements The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ch ...

, table of

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary partic ...

ic configuration of the elements, brief table of material properties, review of current status in the fields of

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. I ...

Cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosophe ...

, and

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs wh ...

al method of particle physics, and with tables of fundamental physical and astronomical constants (many from

CODATA The Committee on Data of the International Science Council (CODATA) was established in 1966 as the Committee on Data for Science and Technology, originally part of the International Council of Scientific Unions, now part of the International ...

and the

Astronomical Almanac ''The Astronomical Almanac''The ''Astronomical Almanac'' for the Year 2015, (United States Naval Observatory/Nautical Almanac Office, 2014) . is an almanac published by the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) and His Majesty's Nautical Almana ...

). * Particle Listings—Comprehensive version of the ''Particle Physics Summary Tables'', with all significant measurements fully referenced. A condensed version of the ''Review'', with the ''Summary Tables'', a significantly shortened ''Reviews, Tables and Plots'', and without the ''Particle Listings'', is available as a 300-page, pocket-sized ''Particle Physics Booklet''. The history of ''Review of Particle Physics'' can be traced back to the 1957 article ''Hyperons and Heavy Mesons (Systematics and Decay)'' by

Murray Gell-Mann Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He was the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical ...

and

Arthur H. Rosenfeld Arthur Hinton Rosenfeld (June 22, 1926 – January 27, 2017) was a UC Berkeley physicist and California energy commissioner, dubbed the "Godfather of Energy Efficiency", for developing new standards which helped improve energy efficiency in Ca ...

, and the unpublished update tables for its data with the title ''Data for Elementary Particle Physics'' (

University of California Radiation Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, the United States Department of Energy. Located in ...

''Technical Report UCRL-8030'') that were circulated before the actual publication of the original article. In 1963, Matts Roos independently published a compilation ''Data on Elementary Particles and Resonant States''. On his suggestion, the two publications were merged a year later into the 1964 ''Data on Elementary Particles and Resonant States''. The publication underwent three renamings thereafter: 1965 into ''Data on Particles and Resonant States'', 1970 into ''Review of Particle Properties'', and 1996 into the present form ''Review of Particle Physics''. Starting with 1972, the ''Review'' no longer appear exclusively in ''

Reviews of Modern Physics ''Reviews of Modern Physics'' (abbreviated RMP) is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Physical Society. It was established in 1929 and the current editor-in-chief is Michael Thoennessen. The journal publishes r ...

'', but also in ''

Physics Letters B Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rela ...

'', ''

European Physical Journal C The ''European Physical Journal C'' (''EPJ C'') is a biweekly peer-reviewed, open access scientific journal covering theoretical and experimental physics. It is part of the SCOAP3 initiative. See also * ''European Physical Journal The ''Europea ...

'', ''

Journal of Physics G ''Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics'' is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes theoretical and experimental research into nuclear physics, particle physics and particle astrophysics, including all interface areas between these fi ...

'', ''

Physical Review D Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally con ...

'', and ''

Chinese Physics C ''Chinese Physics C'' (CPC) is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Chinese Physical Society along with the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. CPC is hosted online by IOP Publishing. It reports on ...

'' (depending on the year).

Past editions of ''Review of Particle Physics''

References

External links

Particle Data Group official site
an
electronic edition of ''Review of Particle Physics'' 2018

Photo of the 2004 ''Review of Particle Physics''

First edition of the wallet card from the Particle Data Group, 1958

Particle Physics Booklet, current version

Particle Physics Booklet, July 2010

Particle Physics Booklet, 2014

Particle Physics Booklet, 2018
{{Authority control Particle physics Physical constants