# What Is a Particle?  ## Metadata - Author: [[Natalie Wolchover]] - Full Title: What Is a Particle? - Category: #articles - Summary: Physicists are rethinking what particles are, with different perspectives emerging. Some see particles as mathematical patterns, while others view them as quantum excitations of fields. There is ongoing debate on how to define particles, with various theories and viewpoints being explored. - URL: https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-a-particle-20201112/ ## Highlights - The easy answer quickly shows itself to be unsatisfying. Namely, electrons, photons, quarks and other “fundamental” particles supposedly lack substructure or physical extent. “We basically think of a particle as a pointlike object,” said [Mary Gaillard](https://physics.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/mary-k-gaillard), a particle theorist at the University of California, Berkeley ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j31syhd9292rd18521bxpatj))