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The mass of the particles

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Summary

I shall discuss the concept of mass at an elementary, but not trivial, level. From an operational point of view, mass, as any observable, is defined by the set of operations employed to measure it or, when not observable as in the case of quarks, to calculate it. Consequently, there are several “masses”, which are not necessarily equal. I shall discuss the relationships amongst them. I start by recalling the basic concept of mass and the strictly related ones of energy and momentum. I shall give then a historical perspective and draw the attention on a number of wrong concepts that still survive. I shall then review the masses of the neutrally charged flavoured mesons, of the neutrinos, of the hadrons, the quark masses and their running.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Fisica “G. Galilei”, Université di Padova and INFN, Via Marzolo 8, 85131, Padova, Italy

    A. Bettini

  2. Laboratorio Subterrâneo de Canfranc, Canfranc (Huesca), Spain

    A. Bettini

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  1. A. Bettini
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Bettini, A. The mass of the particles. Riv. Nuovo Cim. 32, 295–337 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1393/ncr/i2009-10046-2

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