Neutral particle

In physics, a neutral particle is a particle with no electric charge.

Stable or long-lived neutral particles

Long-lived neutral particles provide a challenge in the construction of particle detectors, because they do not interact electromagnetically, except possibly through their magnetic moments. This means that they do not leave tracks of ionized particles or curve in magnetic fields. Examples of such particles include:

• Neutrons
• Other neutral baryons such as the and
• Neutral mesons such as the and
• Neutrinos

Other neutral particles

Other neutral particles are very short-lived and decay before they could be detected even if they were charged. They have been observed only indirectly. They include:

• Z bosons
• Heavy neutral hadrons; see list of mesons and list of baryons