List of mesons
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This is a list of mesons. This list is not comprehensive; it is a stub.
| Particle | Symbol | Anti- particle |
Quark Makeup |
Spin and parity | Rest mass MeV/c² |
S | C | B | Mean lifetime s |
Principal decays | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charged Pion |
π + | π − | ![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 139.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.60×10-8 | μ+ + νμ | |
| Neutral Pion |
π0 | Self | ![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 135.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.84×10-16 | 2γ | Makeup inexact due to non-zero quark masses |
| Charged Kaon |
K + | K − | ![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 493.7 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 1.24×10-8 | μ + νμ or π+ + π0 |
|
| Neutral Kaon |
K0 | ![]() |
![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 497.7 | +1 | 0 | 0 | weak decay | Strong eigenstate - no definite lifetime (see kaon notes below) | |
| K-Short | ![]() |
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Pseudoscalar | 497.7 | (*) | 0 | 0 | 0.89×10-10 | π+ + π- or 2π0 |
Weak eigenstate - makeup is missing small CP-violating term (see kaon notes below) |
| K-Long | ![]() |
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Pseudoscalar | 497.7 | (*) | 0 | 0 | 5.2×10-8 | π+ + e- + νe | Weak eigenstate - makeup is missing small CP-violating term (see kaon notes below) |
| Eta | η | Self | ![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 547.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5×10-19 | Makeup inexact due to non-zero quark masses | |
| Eta Prime |
η' | Self | ![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 957.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3×10-21 | Makeup inexact due to non-zero quark masses | |
| Rho | ρ + | ρ − | ![]() |
Vector | 776 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4×10-23 | ||
| Phi | φ | Self | ![]() |
Vector | 1020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16×10-23 | ||
| D | D + | D − | ![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 1869 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 10.6×10-13 | ||
| D | D0 | ![]() |
![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 1865 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 4.1×10-13 | ||
| Ds | ![]() |
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Pseudoscalar | 1968 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 4.9×10-13 | ||
| J/Psi | J / ψ | Self | ![]() |
Vector | 3096.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.2×10-21 | e+ + e- or μ+ + μ- ... |
See charmonium |
| B | B + | B − | ![]() |
Pseudoscalar | 5279 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 1.7×10-12 | ||
| B | B0 | ![]() |
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Pseudoscalar | 5279 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 1.5×10-12 | ||
| Bs | ![]() |
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Pseudoscalar | 5369 | -1 | 0 | +1 | 1.46×10-12 | ||
| Bc | ![]() |
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Pseudoscalar | 6400 | 0 | +1 | +1 | 5×10-13 | ||
| Upsilon | ![]() |
Self | ![]() |
Vector | 9460 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.3×10-20 | e+ + e- or μ+ + μ- ... |
See bottomonium |
There are two complications with neutral kaons:
- Due to neutral kaon mixing, the
and
are not eigenstates of strangeness. However, they are eigenstates of the weak force, which determines how they decay, so these are the particles with definite lifetime. - Furthermore, the linear combinations given in the table for the
and
are not exactly correct, since there is a small correction due to CP violation. See CP violation in kaons.
Note that these issues also exist in principle for other neutral flavored mesons; however, the weak eigenstates are considered separate particles only for kaons because of their dramatically different lifetimes.
- Griffiths, David J. (1998). Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-805326-X.
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| Elementary particles | Fermions: Quarks: u · d · s · c · b · t • Leptons: e- · e+ · μ- · μ+ · τ- · τ+ · νe · νμ · ντ Bosons: Gauge bosons: γ · g · W± · Z0 Other: Ghosts |
| Composite particles | Hadrons: Baryons(list)/Hyperons/Nucleons: p · n · Δ · Λ · Σ · Ξ · Ω · Ξb • Mesons(list)/Quarkonia: π · K · ρ · J/ψ · Υ Other: Atomic nuclei • Atoms • Exotic atoms: Positronium • Molecules |
| Hypothetical elementary particles | Superpartners: Axino · Dilatino · Chargino · Gluino · Gravitino · Higgsino · Neutralino · Sfermion · Slepton · Squark Other: Axion · Dilaton · Goldstone boson · Graviton · Higgs boson · Tachyon · X · Y · W' · Z' |
| Hypothetical composite particles | Exotic hadrons: Exotic baryons: Pentaquark • Exotic mesons: Glueball · Tetraquark Other: Mesonic molecule |
| Quasiparticles | Davydov soliton · Exciton · Magnon · Phonon · Plasmon · Polariton · Polaron |



























