boson

views updated May 11 2018

boson Elementary particle that has an integer spin. Named after the Indian physicist Satyendranath Bose, bosons are those particles not covered by the exclusion principle which says no two electrons in an atom can have the same energy and spin. This means that the number of bosons occupying the same quantum state is not restricted. Bosons are force-transmitting particles, such as photons and gluons (the particles that hold quarks together). See also fermion