What Is Particle Physics? The Study of Matter’s Smallest Pieces

Particle physics explores the fundamental building blocks of matter and the forces that govern them.
It studies particles like quarks, electrons, and neutrinos, which are far smaller than atoms.
The Standard Model is the main theory describing how particles interact via fundamental forces.
Experiments use particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider, to smash particles together.
Particle physics helped confirm the existence of the Higgs boson, nicknamed the “God particle.”
It investigates antimatter, a mirror version of matter that annihilates when they meet.
Neutrinos, ghost-like particles, can pass through the entire Earth almost without interacting.
Particle physics connects to cosmology, helping explain the origins of the universe.
The field still has mysteries, such as the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
By probing the smallest scales, particle physics seeks answers to the biggest questions in existence.