Answer to Question #170750 in Quantum Mechanics for Eric B

Question

I've been told many times that electrons are indivisible particles, I've come up with a thought experiment that tells me that is wrong, electrons have fundamental components creating them. I'd like to know how we know that the standard model particles are indivisible??

Answer 1

Answer

According to material physics

All matter around us is made of elementary particles, the building blocks of matter. These particles are called quarks and leptons. Each group consists of six particles, which are related in pairs, or “generations”.

The lightest and most stable particles make up the first generation, whereas the heavier and less-stable particles belong to the second and third generations.

All stable matter in the universe is made from particles that belong to the first generation; any heavier particles quickly decay to more stable ones. The six quarks are paired in three generations – the “up quark” and the “down quark” form the first generation, followed by the “charm quark” and “strange quark”, then the “top quark” and “bottom (or beauty) quark”. Quarks also come in three different “colours” and only mix in such ways as to form colourless objects.

The six leptons are similarly arranged in three generations – the “electron” and the “electron neutrino”, the “muon” and the “muon neutrino”, and the “tau” and the “tau neutrino”. The electron, the muon and the tau all have an electric charge and a sizeable mass, whereas the neutrinos are electrically neutral and have very little mass.

So we can decide which are indivisible.