Definition for Standard Model
From Biology Forums Dictionary
The Standard Model of particle physics is a theory concerning the electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear interactions, which mediate the dynamics of the known subatomic particles. It was developed throughout the latter half of the 20th century, as a collaborative effort of scientists around the world.
The current formulation was finalized in the mid-1970s upon experimental confirmation of the existence of quarks. Since then, discoveries of the bottom quark (1977), the top quark (1995), and the tau neutrino (2000) have given further credence to the Standard Model. More recently (2011–2012), the possible detection of the Higgs boson would complete the set of predicted particles upon its verification. Because of its success in explaining a wide variety of experimental results, the Standard Model is sometimes regarded as a "theory of almost everything". Mathematically, the standard model is a quantized Yang–Mills theory.