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 of many people. Van der Meer was the driving force on the accelerator end (stochastic cooling). UA1 and UA2 found the Z boson a few months later, in May 1983. Rubbia and van der Meer were promptly awarded the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics, a most unusual step for the conservative Nobel Foundation. The , , and bosons, together with the photon (), comprise the four gauge bosons of the electroweak interaction. The W and Z bosons decay to fermion–antifermion pairs but neither the W nor the Z bosons can decay into the higher-mass top quark. Neglecting phase space effects