Composition | Elementary particle |
---|---|
Statistics | Fermionic |
Generation | First |
Interactions | Strong, Weak, Electromagnetic force, Gravity |
Symbol | d |
Antiparticle | Down antiquark ( d ) |
Theorized |
Murray Gell-Mann (1964) George Zweig (1964) |
Discovered | SLAC (1968) |
Mass | +0.5 −0.3 MeV/c2 4.8 |
Decays into | Stable or Up quark + Electron + Electron antineutrino |
Electric charge | −1/3 e |
Color charge | yes |
Spin | 1/2 |
Weak isospin | LH: −1/2, RH: 0 |
Weak hypercharge | LH: 1/3, RH: −2/3 |
The down quark or d quark (symbol: d) is the second-lightest of all quarks, a type of elementary particle, and a major constituent of matter. Together with the up quark, it forms the neutrons (one up quark, two down quarks) and protons (two up quarks, one down quark) of atomic nuclei. It is part of the first generation of matter, has an electric charge of −1/3 e and a bare mass of +0.5
−0.3 MeV/c2. Like all 4.8quarks, the down quark is an elementary fermion with spin 1/2, and experiences all four fundamental interactions: gravitation, electromagnetism, weak interactions, and strong interactions. The antiparticle of the down quark is the down antiquark (sometimes called antidown quark or simply antidown), which differs from it only in that some of its properties have equal magnitude but opposite sign.