Scalar boson

A scalar boson is a boson whose spin equals zero. Boson means that it has an integer-valued spin; the scalar fixes this value to 0.

The name "scalar boson" arises from quantum field theory. It refers to the particular transformation properties under Lorentz transformation.

Examples

• Various known composite particles are scalar bosons, e.g. the alpha particle and the pi meson. Among the scalar mesons, one distinguishes between the scalar and pseudoscalar mesons, which refers to their transformation property under parity.

• The only fundamental scalar boson in the standard model of elementary particle physics is the Higgs boson, whose existence was confirmed on 14 March 2013 at the Large Hadron Collider. As a result of this confirmation, the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Peter Higgs and François Englert.

• One very popular quantum field theory, which uses scalar bosonic fields and is introduced in many introductory books to quantum field theories for pedagogical reasons, is the so-called φ⁴-theory. It usually serves as a toy model to introduce the basic concepts of the field.

See also

• Scalar meson
• Scalar field theory
• Vector boson
• Higgs Boson