Natural supersymmetry

Article By:

Baer, Howard Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.

Last reviewed:2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB130184

The fundamental laws of physics as we know them are encapsulated in a structure known as the standard model. The standard model invokes three generations of quarks and leptons as the fundamental constituents of matter. The strong nuclear interaction describes how quarks interact with each other via the exchange of “force” particles known as gluons in a subtheory known as quantum chromodynamics (QCD). The strong nuclear force is responsible for the binding of quarks into protons, neutrons, pi mesons, and other strongly interacting particles; through subsidiary interactions, it is also responsible for binding protons and neutrons together to make the atomic nucleus. In the standard model, the weak nuclear force, which is responsible for nuclear decay and for the fusion reactions that power the Sun, is mediated by the exchange of the massive vector bosons, W and Z. Within the standard model, the weak interaction is unified with the familiar electromagnetic force (which governs the interaction of charged particles via the exchange of photons).

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