We can say that leptons are particles that are not subject to strong interaction. Among the leptons studied so far are electrons and antineutrino. The latter is obtained together with the electron in beta decay. Another element that we can mention and that is part of the lepton family is the muon.
In studies of these particles, physicists found that the neutrino associated with the production of a muon is not a particle equal to the neutrino produced in beta decay, associated with the appearance of a electron.
They are called muon neutrino and electron neutrino. Even with similar names, we have to remember that they are different, because if a bundle of muon neutrinos focuses on a target, only muons are observed among the particles produced by the collisions.
However, if the target is subjected to electron neutrinos only electrons are observed in the middle of the particles produced by the collisions.
We can also mention another known lepton: tau, which was discovered in the SLAC laboratory in 1975. His observer received the Nobel Prize in physics in the year 1995. We can say, from the findings, that this particle (tau) is associated with a different neutrino from the other two mentioned.
We can divide the leptons into families, each composed of a particle (electron, muon, or tau), the associated neutrino, and the corresponding antiparticles. Many scientists believe that there are only three families of leptons.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
Table of the three families of leptons
Leptons do not have an internal structure or measurable dimensions, that is, they behave like point particles in interactions with other particles and with electromagnetic waves.
By Domitiano Marques
Graduated in Physics
Brazil School Team
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SILVA, Domitiano Correa Marques da. "The Leptons"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/fisica/os-leptons.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
