Vector boson Vector boson In particle physics, a vector boson is a boson with the spin equal to 1. The vector bosons regarded as elementary particles in the Standard Model are the gauge bosons, the force carriers of fundamental interactions: the photon of electromagnetism, the W and Z bosons of the weak interaction, and the gluons of the strong interaction. Some composite particles are vector bosons, for instance any vector meson (quark and antiquark). During the 1970s and 1980s, intermediate vector bosons—vector bosons of "intermediate" mass (a mass between the two of the vector mesons)—drew much attention in particle physics. The Z
Superpartner Superpartner In particle physics, a superpartner (also sparticle) is a class of hypothetical elementary particles. Supersymmetry is one of the synergistic theories in current high-energy physics that predicts the existence of these "shadow" particles. When considering extensions of the Standard Model, the "s-" prefix from "sparticle" is used to form names of superpartners of the Standard Model fermions (sfermions), e.g. the stop squark. The superpartners of Standard Model bosons have an "-ino" (bosinos) appended to their name, e.g. gluino, the set of all gauge superpartners are called the gauginos. According to the supersymmetry theory, each fermion should have a partner