W and Z bosons weak-force boson particle. Thus, this interaction requires a Z boson. These bosons are among the heavyweights of the elementary particles. With masses of and , respectively, the W and Z bosons are almost 80 times as massive as the proton – heavier, even, than entire iron atoms. Their high masses limit the range of the weak interaction. By way of contrast, the photon is the force carrier of the electromagnetic force and has zero mass, consistent with the infinite range of electromagnetism; the hypothetical graviton is also expected to have zero mass. (Although gluons are also presumed to have zero
W′ and Z′ bosons W′ and Z′ bosons In particle physics, W′ and Z′ bosons (or W-prime and Z-prime bosons) refer to hypothetical gauge bosons that arise from extensions of the electroweak symmetry of the Standard Model. They are named in analogy with the Standard Model W and Z bosons. W′ bosons often arise in models with an extra SU(2) gauge group. is spontaneously broken to the diagonal subgroup SU(2) which corresponds to the electroweak SU(2). More generally, we might have "n" copies of SU(2), which are then broken down to a diagonal SU(2). This gives rise to "n"−1 W′, W′ and Z′ bosons.