strange particle

noun

, Physics.

1. any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.

strange particle

1. Any of various unstable elementary particles, having a short half-life and a nonzero strangeness quantum number. Sigma and xi baryons, for example, are strange particles.

Word History and Origins

Origin of strange particle¹

First recorded in 1955–60; originally so called because of the anomalously long decay time of such particles

Example Sentences

Protons and neutrons have S = 0, and through the strong force, can produce a pair of strange particles that have S = –1 and S = +1, so that total strangeness is conserved.

From Nature

But how did the weak interaction that was, among other things, responsible for the decay of Murray’s “strange particles” actually work?

From Scientific American

The very first observation of asymmetry involving strange particles in 1964 allowed theorists to predict the existence of six quarks—at a time when only three were known to exist.

From Scientific American

A cosmic engine is hurling strange particles at Earth—and new observations, published today in the journal Science, are complicating the hunt for the culprit.

From National Geographic

The scientists then use powerful computers to sift through the data from those collisions, and strange particles sometimes emerge from that research.

From Scientific American