bosonn.
/ˈbəʊsɒn/, /ˈbəʊzɒn/, U.S. /ˈboʊˌsɑn/, /ˈboʊˌzɑn/ Particle Physics.
Any particle which has a spin equal to zero or a whole number, and a wave function that is symmetric (so that the particle obeys Bose–Einstein statistics). Cf. fermion n.In nature bosons occur as mediators or carriers of forces and interactions. Examples include photons, mesons, and gluons, and also composite particles that contain an even number of fermions, such as a helium-4 atom.gauge, Higgs, intermediate, vector boson: see the first element.
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the world > matter > physics > quantum theory > quantum mechanics > symmetry, conserved properly > [noun] > Bose-Einstein statistics > particle obeying
Bose–Einstein particle1946
boson1947
1947 P. A. M. Dirac Princ. Quantum Mech. (ed. 3) ix. 210 The new statistics was first studied by Bose, so we shall call particles for which only symmetrical states occur in nature bosons.
1979 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) June 67/1 Matter is considered to be made up of the particles called fermions, which interact with one another by exchanging particles of another kind called bosons.
1981 D. H. Perkins in J. H. Mulvey Nature of Matter iv. 102 It is possible that a higher symmetry exists, where new very massive bosons..mediate a grand unified interaction.
1991 D. Coupland Generation X ii. xxii.124 I'll add some more about Linda here, too: she was bright. She could discuss particle physics, say—quarks and leptons, bosons and mesons.
1993 L. M. Lederman & D. Teresi God Particle (2006) viii. 365 The spin-one-half partners of the spin-one bosons are given a suffix ‘ino’ so that gluons are joined by ‘gluinos’, photons couple with ‘photinos’.
2012 Observer (Nexis) 9 Sept. 20 Things such as consciousness have emerged that cannot be fully understood only by examining the bedrock of bosons and fermions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1947