boson

noun

: a particle (such as a photon or meson) whose spin quantum number is zero or an integral number compare fermion
bosonic adjective

Examples of boson in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web After decades of theoretical prediction were borne out by the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, which confirmed how other particles get their mass, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has failed to find any other new fundamental particles. Daniel Garisto, Scientific American, 13 Dec. 2023 The panel also recommended participating in a future facility in either Europe or Japan, dedicated to studying the Higgs boson, the discovery of which in 2012 was key for understanding how other particles get their mass. Katrina Miller, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2023 To tide you over, here are Henry's latest videos about our favorite scalar boson. Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 12 July 2012 The simplest theoretical models of this type involve new, lighter cousins of the Higgs boson or particles related to new forces of nature that act on muons. Marcela Carena, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2021 Supersymmetry hypothesizes an as-yet-undiscovered boson partner for every fermion, and a fermion partner for each boson. Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 10 May 2023 The Higgs boson is a particle that generates a field other particles have to travel through. Sarah Wells, Popular Mechanics, 10 May 2023 The last to be found, the Higgs boson, was discovered almost a decade ago at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Marcela Carena, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2021 Michele is interested in models in which the Higgs is a pseudo-Goldstone boson and showed that in many such models, naturalness, coupled with a 125 GeV Higgs implies that there should also be new fermions in the model that are quite light, and may be within the reach of the LHC. Mark Trodden, Discover Magazine, 13 July 2012

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'boson.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Satyendranath Bose †1974 Indian physicist + -on entry 2

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of boson was in 1947

Dictionary Entries Near boson

Cite this Entry

“Boson.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boson. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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