Bosões

Bosões are a class of elementary particles that carry forces and are distinguished by their integer values of intrinsic spin. In quantum field theory, the classification of particles into fermions and bosons is based on the spin-statistics theorem: particles with half‑integer spin (1/2, 3/2, …) are fermions and obey the Pauli exclusion principle, whereas particles with integer spin (0, 1, 2, …) are bosons and may occupy the same quantum state.

The most familiar bosons are the gauge bosons that mediate the fundamental interactions: the photon (spin 1) mediates electromagnetism, the W± and Z^0 bosons (also spin 1) mediate the weak force, and the gluons (spin 1) mediate the strong force. The Higgs boson (spin 0) is responsible for giving mass to other elementary particles through the Higgs mechanism. Gravitons, hypothetical spin 2 particles, are postulated to carry the gravitational force in quantum theories of gravity. In addition to these, there are composite bosons such as mesons, which are made of a quark and an antiquark pair and play a key role in nuclear interactions.

Bosons exhibit phenomena like Bose–Einstein condensation, where large numbers of low‑energy bosons occupy the same quantum state, leading to macroscopic quantum effects observable at cryogenic temperatures. This behavior underpins technologies such as superconductivity and superfluidity. Incremental discoveries and experiments at particle accelerators continue to refine the Standard Model, probing the properties of known bosons and searching for new ones that could explain physics beyond the current framework.