Graviton
A graviton is a hypothetical particle that 'transfers' gravitation's force (particles like this are known as gauge bosons) from its field. Gravitons have never been observed, directly or indirectly[1], however, there have been several theories that use gravitons to explain certain phenomena. For example, a theory that describes black holes by combining quantum mechanics and gravity, has been advanced by Georgi Dvali and Cesar Gomez, which suggests a black hole is "an overpacked bucket of gravitons".
Because the graviton is a particle that has force (gravity), it is classed as a gauge boson. Other gauge bosons include the photon, the gluon, and the W and Z particles.
If someone found one, it could lead to a theory which would join together the four main physical forces: electromagnetism, gravity, strong force and weak force.
| Particles in Physics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary: | Fermions: | Quarks: up – down – strange – charm – bottom – top Leptons: electron – muon – tau – neutrinos |
|
| Bosons: | Gauge bosons: photon – W and Z bosons – gluons | ||
| Composite: | Hadrons: | Baryons: proton – neutron – hyperon | |
| Mesons: pion – kaon – J/ψ | |||
| Atomic nuclei – Atoms – Molecules | |||
| Hypothetical: | Higgs boson – Graviton – Tachyon | ||
References [change]
- ↑ Wei, Lisa (2003). "What is a graviton?". Curious about Astronomy. http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=535. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
