The Z boson has been measured extremely precisely at the earlier particle accelerator at CERN, the LEP (Large Electron-Positron Collider). LEP was actually nicknamed the Z-factory! The Z boson is a necessary part in the jigsaw puzzle, which makes up our theory of elementary particles and their interactions. The Z and the W bosons mediate all phenomena governed by weak interactions. In order to reproduce reality the theory behind weak interactions dictates the way the Z boson (and the W's) should behave. One of the big achievements of the LEP experiments was the precise measurement of all observable Z decays (to charged leptons and to hadrons, which has been used to extract information about Z decay into neutrino-antineutrino). This information has proven that, at current energies, there are exactly 3 types of neutrino species and, thereby, 3 families of leptons and quarks.

This is in agreement with all current observations, and is therefore a highly valuable result, placing the Z boson in theory and in Nature exactly where it needs to be for our world to look like it does.

Here you get back to the opening page of the Z-Path.

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