Wiktionary
n. any of many units of matter smaller than an atom
WordNet
n. a particle that is less complex than an atom; regarded as constituents of all matter [syn: elementary particle, fundamental particle]
Wikipedia
In the physical sciences, subatomic particles are particles much smaller than atoms. There are two types of subatomic particles: elementary particles, which according to current theories are not made of other particles; and composite particles. Particle physics and nuclear physics study these particles and how they interact .
In particle physics, the concept of a particle is one of several concepts inherited from classical physics. But it also reflects the modern understanding that at the quantum scale matter and energy behave very differently from what much of everyday experience would lead us to expect.
The idea of a particle underwent serious rethinking when experiments showed that light could behave like a stream of particles (called photons) as well as exhibit wave-like properties. This led to the new concept of wave–particle duality to reflect that quantum-scale "particles" behave like both particles and waves (also known as wavicles). Another new concept, the uncertainty principle, states that some of their properties taken together, such as their simultaneous position and momentum, cannot be measured exactly. In more recent times, wave–particle duality has been shown to apply not only to photons but to increasingly massive particles as well.
Interactions of particles in the framework of quantum field theory are understood as creation and annihilation of quanta of corresponding fundamental interactions. This blends particle physics with field theory.
Usage examples of "subatomic particle".
But by moving out from the confines of our egocentric limitations, we see, more and more, the Great Power at work and realize our own incapacity to alter the primal patterns of creation, even in the manifestation of one subatomic particle.
Seeing all the heavy machinery and earth-moving trucks, Craig wondered how such a huge and disruptive project could be compatible with delicate diagnostics and subatomic particle tracings.
However, I knew there would be a venting of energies, of the subatomic particle stream.
Poul's system records the position and energy state of every subatomic particle in the passenger's body.
A massless anomaly in the vacuum, small as a subatomic particle, it would be almost impossible to find.
The thought of being abruptly reduced to the size of a subatomic particle was one he could comprehend better than any of them.
Herbie -- in Bibleman's mind -- chased after by a subatomic particle fruitlessly, the particle bobbing up at random here and there.
That's not just every living species from every world working together for the mutual good, but every subatomic particle of His creation actively participating in that harmony.