PlanetPhysics/Tau
Tau is a [[../Lepton/|lepton]] just like electron and [[../MuonLepton/|Muon]]. It is considered to be a point-like [[../Particle/|particle]] since it doesn't have internal structure, as far as it's known. Taus have a [[../CosmologicalConstant/|mass]] of 1777 MeV which is about 3500 times more than an electron. They are also twice as heavy as protons. Being so massive meant that they were not easily discoverable because [[../CosmologicalConstant/|energies]] of 1.7 GeV or greater were needed. Finally in experiments that ran in 1974-7, some 40 years after discovery of muon, taus were discovered by a [[../TrivialGroupoid/|group]] of experimentalists at [[../CosmologicalConstant2/|SLAC]].
Taus are able to decay into [[../QuarkAntiquarkPair/|hadrons]] via [[../WeakNuclearForce/|weak interaction]], and this makes them unique in the leptonic world. Taus are very unstable, thus they have a very short lifetime of s
As a member of the 3rd leptonic group taus have an anti-particle partner anti-tau, and also two neutrinos, a tau [[../Neutrino/|Neutrino]] and anti-tau neutrino.