top quark
1
9.5
- noun
- /tɑp kwɑrk/
- Specialized
:
quark superior
- The announcement of the top-quark discovery last March (see PHYSICS TODAY, May, page 17) finally completes the picture.
The physicists were quite optimistic they had found the top quark, and this news too made it into the New York Times.
- The physicists were quite optimistic they had found the top quark, and this news too made it into the New York Times.
Examples
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Unlike the five lighter quarks, the top quark decays (mostly to W + b) before it has had time to dress itself in hadronic garb.
Academic text (2012) -
Assuming the simplest Higgs physics consistent with the standard model of particle physics, one can predict the Higgs particle's mass from the mass of the top quark and other parameters.
Academic text (2003) -
And a very high priority of Run II is the precision measurement of the mass and other properties of the top quark.
Academic text (2003) -
So how much heavier is the top quark than the up quark?
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The physicists were quite optimistic they had found the top quark, and this news too made it into the New York Times.
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Finding B decays is crucial for the identification of top quarks.
Academic text (2003) -
In the early 1990s, the top quark was urgently sought as the sixth and last quark required by the standard model.
Academic text (2012) -
The missing-energy signature also played a major role in the discovery of the top quark (t) at the Tevatron collider in 1995.
Academic text (2012) -
One now had to study new massive, short-lived particles like the W and Z bosons and the top quark, all very much heavier than the proton.
Academic text (2012) -
The top quark is a unique particle due to its phenomenally high mass.
Synonyms
A very heavy particle in physics that people call the top quark
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a compositional noun–noun compound: 'top' simply modifies 'quark' to indicate a particular (upper/highest) kind of quark, so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a specific type of quark. Although detailed technical properties (exact charge or mass) are specialized and not derivable from the constituents, the basic category and reference are transparent.
Etymology
Top quark The name top quark comes from the idea that this quark sits at the top of the quark family because it is the 'heaviest' one, the opposite of the bottom quark. So the name helps you remember that the top quark is the very heavy kind of quark discovered by physicists.