Dictionary

particle zoo en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌpɑɹtək(ə)l ˈzu/ (General-American)
• (General-American) audio
• /ˌpɑːtɪkl̩ ˈzuː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [-ɾə-] (General-American)

Etymology

From particle + zoo, referring to the effort to create a taxonomy of elementary particles similar to organizing animals in a zoo. The term has largely displaced the earlier term subnuclear zoo.

Meanings

1. (informal, particle) An extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles.
   • You've heard about atoms, elements, and nuclear fusion. But what about red, blue, and green quarks and particle zoos containing "wild beasts"? 1993, Mary Atwater [et al.], “Unit Introduction: Changes in Matter”, in Changes in Matter, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 10:
   • And despite the laundry list nature of particle physics, the inhabitants of our particle zoos are remarkably simple creatures. Just a few numbers tell you everything you could possibly want to know. 2013, Dave Goldberg, “Spin: In which We Investigate Why You Aren’t a Sentient Cloud of Helium and What a Spoonful of Neutron Star Would Do to You”, in The Universe in the Rearview Mirror: How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality, New York, N.Y.: Dutton, Penguin Group, →ISBN, page 205:
   • Unfortunately, [Wolfgang] Pauli didn't live long enough to see how populous the particle zoo would become—how many categories and subcategories and families and flavors particle physicists would postulate and discover in the decades that followed his death. 2007 February, Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Little Neutral Ones”, in Peter Brown, editor, Natural History, volume 116, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Natural History Magazine, in affiliation with the American Museum of Natural History, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18, column 3:
   • After World War II, experimental physicists discovered that a host of particles, many with unusual properties, could be created by high-speed collisions inside cloud chambers using cosmic rays; later, particle accelerators were used. Puzzled by the photographic traces of scores of such subatomic particles, researchers spoke of a "particle zoo," because they could discern no underlying similarities. [Murray] Gell-Mann set about trying to classify these particles. 1998, Mike Batistick [et al.], “Gell-Mann, Murray”, in Eizabeth A. Schick, editor, Current Biography Yearbook 1998, New York, N.Y.; Dublin: The H[alsey] W[illiam] Wilson Company, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 223, column 2:
   • Based on this rapidly growing population of particles, often referred to as the "nuclear particle zoo," scientists no longer want to consider the proton and the neutron as elementary particles within the field of nuclear physics. 2004, Joseph A. Angelo, Jr., “History of Nuclear Technology and Science”, in Nuclear Technology (Sourcebooks in Modern Technology), Westpost, Conn.; London: Greenwood Press, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 12:
   • Except for the fact that they provide coherent descriptions for general features of the particle "zoo" (nonexistence of particles with Qgt;1, limitation of the possible kinds of particles, etc.) these formalisms could indeed be described as empty frames. 1958, B[ernard] d’Espagnat, J[acek] Prentki, “Some Theoretical Aspects of the Strong Interactions of the New Particles”, in J[ohn] G[raham] Wilson, S[iegfried] A[dolf] Wouthuysen, editors, Progress in Elementary Particle and Cosmic Ray Physics, volume IV, Amsterdam, North Holland: North Holland Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 32–33:

Forms

Translations (8)

af deeltjiedieretuin (extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles) · tr parçacık hayvanat bahçesi (extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles) · vi vườn hạt (extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles) · cmn 粒子園 /粒子园 (extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles) · es zoológico de partículas (extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles) · de Teilchenzoo (extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles) · fi alkeishiukkasten eläintarha (extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles) · ko 입자 동물원 (extensive list of known and theorized elementary particles)