particle physicsn.
/ˌpɑːtᵻkl ˈfɪzɪks/, U.S. /ˌpɑrdək(ə)l ˈfɪzɪks/ 1. The part of physics that employs the traditional concept of particles rather than the later concept of fields. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1937 F. S. C. Northrop in Jrnl. Philos. 34 681 There are two major movements in modern physics. The one stems from Newton and may be termed particle physics. The other arises with Faraday and Maxwell and is called field physics.
1947 Sci. Monthly Mar. 228/1 In particle physics the motion of an electrical charge is determined by the positions and motions of all other charged particles.
1955 Philos. & Phenomenol. Res. 16 240 Galilean mechanics..supplied the basis for a metaphysical-materialistic particle physics along with a new conception of nature.
2. The branch of physics concerned with the properties, relationships, and interactions of subatomic particles.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > [noun]
particle physics1946
1946 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 90 44/2 Some of the outstanding experimental problems in elementary particle physics—problems concerned with electrons and positrons, nuclear explosions, neutrino physics, and most of all with the meson.
1969 New Scientist 24 Apr. 171/1 In 20th century particle physics there has been a continuous progression from the world of the atom,..through the MeV world of nuclear physics..to the present perplexing phenomena of the GeV world created by the big particle accelerators.
1996 Independent 9 Feb. 6/2 Some astronomers favour exotic, as yet undiscovered, subnuclear particles known as ‘cold dark matter’; others favour ‘hot dark matter’ composed of subnuclear particles which have been fleetingly glimpsed in particle physics experiments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1937