In particle physics, flavor is a property of a fermion that identifies it, a label that specifies the name of the particle. Fermions, named after Enrico Fermi, are particles which form totally-antisymmetric composite quantum states. ...

According to the Standard Model, quarks exist in six flavors: up, down, strange, charm, bottom and top (indicated with the symbols u, d, s, c, b and t). Leptons occur in six other flavors: electron, muon, tau, electron neutrino, muon neutrino and tau neutrino (e⁻, μ⁻, τ⁻, ν_e, ν_μ and ν_τ). The Standard Model of Fundamental Particles and Interactions The Standard Model of particle physics is a theory which describes the strong, weak, and electromagnetic fundamental forces, as well as the fundamental particles that make up all matter. ... For other uses of this term, see: Quark (disambiguation) 1974 discovery photograph of a possible charmed baryon, now identified as the Σc++ In particle physics, the quarks are subatomic particles thought to be elemental and indivisible. ... A lepton is also a unit of currency. ...

Antiparticles have −1 unit of the corresponding flavor. For example, the strange and antistrange quarks (s and ) have a strangeness of −1, and +1 respectively. In particle physics, strangeness is the number of anti-strange quarks minus the number of strange quarks in a particle. ...

A fermion of a given flavor is an eigenstate of the weak interaction; it will interact in a definite way with the W⁺, W^- and Z bosons. On the other hand, a fermion of a fixed mass (an eigenstate of the hamiltonian) is normally a superposition of various flavors, and this gives rise to processes that change the flavor. In the case of quarks, this is reflected in the so-called CKM matrix. The equivalent for neutrinos is the MNS matrix. In linear algebra, the eigenvectors (from the German eigen meaning inherent, characteristic) of a linear operator are non-zero vectors which, when operated on by the operator, result in a scalar multiple of themselves. ... The weak nuclear force or weak interaction is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. ... In physics, Hamiltonian has distinct but closely related meanings. ... In the particle physics of quarks, if the physical Hamiltonian is different from the eigenstates of the weak one, a transformation matrix can be defined for these two bases. ...

The term "flavor" was first applied to quarks, as in the 1970s research on hadrons had led nuclear physicists to believe there were three types of quark (the up, down and strange). The need to create a way to distinguish between the three colors of quark and three types was resolved on the way to lunch by Murray Gell-Mann and Harald Fritzsch when they passed a Baskin-Robbins advertising 31 flavors. In particle physics, a hadron is a subatomic particle which experiences the strong nuclear force. ... In quantum chromodynamics (QCD), color or color charge refers to a certain property of the subatomic particles called quarks. ... Murray Gell-Mann (born September 15, 1929) is an American physicist. ... External links Baskin-Robbins official site. ...