Elementary particles and fundamental interactions

The aim of this dossier is to enable the reader to acquire or clarify general knowledge about the elementary constituents of matter and their fundamental interactions.

The notion of elementary particles as universal constituents of nature is a simpler and older concept than that of particles as vectors of interactions. The proposed approach, which consists of first presenting the constitution of matter and then the fundamental interactions, has the advantage of linking the historical and didactic aspects of this discipline.

The two parts are linked by the use of fundamental principles of relativistic quantum mechanics, some of which are essential for understanding the text.

Elementary particle physics is not only a theoretical science, but also an experimental one, relying on very large-scale equipment such as particle gas pedals, modern microscopes of the infinitely small. The latter enable physicists to recreate "mini Big-Bangs" by particle collisions, opening up the hope of studying, for example, the Universe as it was a few millionths of a billionth of a second after its birth. This aspect will be addressed in the with its most recent developments.

Readers who are particularly interested in quantum mechanics and who wish to deepen their knowledge can read the file on quantum mechanics in this same document base and the works listed as bibliographical references at .