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
W and Z bosons particles, starting with and , all denote quarks and antiquarks (factor "N" is applied). The various "V" denote the corresponding CKM matrix coefficients. Unitarity of the CKM matrix implies that Z bosons decay into a fermion and its antiparticle. As the Z boson is a mixture of the pre-symmetry-breaking W and B bosons (see weak mixing angle), each vertex factor includes a factor "T" − "Q" sin"θ" where "T" is the third component of the weak isospin of the fermion, "Q "is the electric charge of the fermion (in units of the elementary charge), and "θ" is the weak mixing