Exotic particle

An exotic particle is a kind of theoretical particle said to exist by some areas of modern physics, and whose alleged properties are extremely unusual.

The best-known example is probably the tachyon, a theoretical particle that always travels faster than light.^[1]^[2]

All particles have an intrinsic spin associated with the angular momentum of the particle. Whereas more common particles have spins of value 1/2, 1 and 0, some exotic particles (such as the Omega negative) has spin = 3/2.^[3]

Another example of this would be supersymmetry. A theoretical set of super heavy versions of known particles (this is also one of the proposed candidates for dark matter) ^[4]

Exotic particles are frequently featured in science fiction, either those with real-world academic backing, or entirely fictional.

References

^ Feinberg, Gerald (1997). "Tachyon". Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. 26. Grolier. p. 210.
^ Feinberg, Gerald (1967). "Possibility of Faster-Than-Light Particles". Physical Review. 159: 1089–1105. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.159.1089.
^ Yao, W.-M. et al. (Particle Data Group) (2006). "Review of Particle Physics: Ω⁻
)" (PDF). Journal of Physics G. 33: 1. doi:10.1088/0954-3899/33/1/001.
^ Lykken, Joseph D. (1996). "Introduction to Supersymmetry". arXiv:hep-th/9612114. {{cite arXiv}}: |class= ignored (help)

References

Further reading