[Telepathic Intruder]

"True wisdom is knowing what you don't know"--Confucius. The older I get, the more I know how little I know.

"Ice, Steam and Water"

You're talking about different phase states of water, which are solid, liquid, and gas, depending on temperature and air pressure. Einstein's E=mc² shows that matter and energy are really the same thing, but in different states, similar to phase states of water. You can change one to the other, and each has their own set of particles and wave functions.

The total set of elementary particles is not that complicated:



Fermions are leptons and quarks, which make up all matter. The bosons make up all energy. Atoms are not elementary particles, but compound ones, so you have more combinations of those.

This is sort of a hobby of mine, by the way. I have no official expertise.

[litehaus]

“Fermions are leptons and quarks, which make up all matter. The bosons make up all energy. Atoms are not elementary particles, but compound ones, so you have more combinations of those.”
What constitutes an elementary particle then? Are there many kinds? Are they something we engage while we live, or a picture of something that exists for ‘less than a moment’ on a ‘photo’ in/from some ‘tron machine/collider’ ?