We present the graphic below, depicting on a precise scale all 17 basic building blocks of the universe plus the two most relevant composite particles: the protons and neutrons.

2024 Idea and research by Julie R. Peasley, design by Pablo C.Budassi – sources: symmetrymagazine.org, wikipedia.org
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Elementary particles are incredibly small and lack traditional dimensions like length, width, and height. They are often described as point-like, meaning they are considered to have no size. However, their masses are quite diverse and measurable, and we are obtaining increasingly accurate values as of 2024.
The areas of the circles as depicted here correspond to the masses of the respective particles. The whole concept of this comparative graphic was the idea of Julie Peasley in 2023. She wrote a blog post detailing her research for obtaining the best current mass estimates for each particle, which was challenging. Her initial consulted sources included reputable particle labs’ websites worldwide, recent books on the subject, and a direct consultation with the communications department at CERN. Ultimately, for the final numbers, she relied primarily on Symmetry Magazine, published by Fermilab, and Quanta Magazine.
Let’s dive into The Particle Zoo:
In March 2024, Julie gave her approval for Pablo to integrate her infographic in a remix with his design approach. In this version, we have included the short facts above for each known particle, as well as for 4 hypothetical particles yet to be discovered:
Timeline of particle discoveries ordered by mass:
And those are the most challenging mysteries in the field from Julie’s original idea. The final poster is presented in either dark or light background:
2024 Idea and research by Julie R. Peasley, design by Pablo C.Budassi – sources: symmetrymagazine.org, wikipedia.org
Dark Version:
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Light Version:

Poster text transcript:
Photons have no mass because they are constantly traveling at the speed of light, yet they are the only particle visible to the human eye — at the right frequency.
Gluons have no mass because they do not interact with the Higgs field, which is responsible for giving mass to some particles.
The smallest known particle with mass, electron-neutrino is at least 60 billion times smaller than the biggest known particle (top quark).
Neutrino masses are uncertain and vary with their interactions with other particles. The muon-neutrino’s mass affects its transformation into an electron and two neutrinos influenced by the weak nuclear force.
The exact mass of the tau-neutrino, is key to understanding why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe.
A fundamental constant of physics, the mass of an electron, is at least a million times larger than any of the neutrinos.
The up quark has no definite mass, but rather a range of possible values depending on the strong interaction.
Most of the mass of the down quark is not due to its bare mass, but to the strong interactions with the gluons and other quarks.
The mass of the strange quark is one of the parameters of the standard model of particle physics, but it is not known precisely.
The muon is an intermediate particle between the light leptons and the heavy hadrons.
Protons and neutrons are almost identical in size and the only composite particles shown here, consisting of even smaller particles. Their mass is mostly determined by the energy of the gluons that bind the quarks together and by a composite particle called Pion, rather than by the mass of the quarks themselves.
As a second generation quark, the charm quark is heavier than the first generation quarks (up and down) but lighter than the third generation quarks (top and bottom).
The tau is the heaviest of the three charged leptons (electron, muon, tau).
More than four times the mass of a proton, the bottom quark has a large coupling strength with the Higgs boson. Mesons that contain the bottom quark are long-lived for their mass, and are the most convenient particles to investigate the dominance of matter over antimatter.
The W boson is the fourth heaviest particle in the Standard Model. It is responsible for many nuclear processes, including those that allow stars to burn, producing light, and creating heavier elements that are the building blocks for planets and people.
Electrically neutral, the Z boson can interact with particles without altering their electric charge. Like the other large particles, it lasts an infinitesimally small time before decaying away into smaller particles.
The now famous Higgs boson is part of the Higgs field, which interacts with almost all particles (except neutrinos) to give them mass. In general, the more a particle interacts with the Higgs field, the more mass it has.
The top quark is the most massive elementary particle, with a mass similar to that of a gold atom. It has the strongest coupling to the Higgs boson of all particles, very close to unity.
Other hypothetical particles:
The axion is a particle that could explain why matter and antimatter are not equal and also be the dark matter of the universe.
The magnetic monopole is a particle with only one magnetic pole that would prove that electric charge comes in discrete units.
The tachyon is a faster-than-light particle with imaginary mass and energy that would break the rule of cause and effect.
The majorana fermion is a particle that is its own antiparticle and has no charge or other distinguishing features.
THE 5 MAJOR MYSTERIES OF PARTICLE PHYSICS
1. Why do neutrinos have mass? Despite models predicting zero mass for neutrinos, they all have non-zero masses and differ significantly. So what gives them their mass?
2. Is there a graviton particle? Some theories rely on a subatomic particle transmitting gravity the same way photons carry the electromagnetic force, but no one has detected such a particle yet.
3. What causes matter-antimatter asymmetry? Matter and antimatter should had been produced in equal parts at the Big Bang, however, the universe around us is dominated by matter.
4. What is dark matter? Although we can’t see it, we know some kind of invisible matter makes up 27% of the universe. Is it made of particles we already know or something more exotic?
5. What is dark energy? Galaxies accelerate away from us due to an unknown energy source that makes up 68% of the universe. Where does this energy come from?
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