Particle

0.26.1 · active · verified Mon Apr 13

Particle is a core library within the Scikit-HEP ecosystem, providing a Pythonic interface to the Particle Data Group (PDG) particle data tables and Monte Carlo (MC) identification codes. It offers extended particle information, identification queries via PDGID, and powerful search capabilities for particle properties. The library is under active development and frequently updated with new PDG data releases.

Warnings

breaking Python 3.7 and 3.8 support has been dropped in recent versions. Python 3.7 support was removed in v0.24.0, and Python 3.8 support was removed in v0.26.0.
Fix: Upgrade your Python environment to 3.9 or higher. The current version (0.26.1) requires Python >=3.9.
breaking Deprecated methods were removed in version 0.24.0 of the library.
Fix: Consult the changelog or documentation for version 0.24.0 to identify and update any calls to removed methods.
gotcha The default PDG data table is updated annually with new releases (e.g., v0.26.0 defaults to 2025 data, v0.25.0 to 2024 data). Older superseded data files are removed.
Fix: If your analysis requires a specific older PDG data table, you may need to explicitly load it or use an older version of the `particle` library. Always be aware of which PDG data year is being used by default.
gotcha When creating user-defined particles, assigning 'random' PDG IDs can result in particles with undefined or incorrect internal quantum numbers and properties.
Fix: Exercise caution when manually defining particles. Ensure that any custom PDG IDs are consistent with the standard PDG numbering scheme if you expect quantum numbers and other properties to be correctly inferred.

Install

pip install particle Install latest version

Imports

Particle
```
from particle import Particle
```
Main class for interacting with PDG particle data.
PDGID
```
from particle import PDGID
```
Class for querying properties of PDG identification numbers.
pdgid.literals
```
import particle.pdgid.literals as pdgid_literals
```
Provides aliases for PDGID instances, e.g., `pdgid_literals.pi_plus`.
literals
```
import particle.literals as particle_literals
```
Provides aliases for Particle instances, e.g., `particle_literals.phi_1020`.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to create `PDGID` and `Particle` objects, access their properties, and perform searches for particles based on specific criteria. It also shows the integration with `hepunits` for handling physical units.

from particle import PDGID, Particle
from hepunits import GeV

# Working with PDG IDs
pid_pion = PDGID(211)
print(f"PDGID 211 is a meson: {pid_pion.is_meson}")

# Getting a Particle object from its PDG ID
pion = Particle.from_pdgid(211)
print(f"Pion mass: {pion.mass / GeV:.3f} GeV")

# Searching for particles by properties
neutral_beauty_hadrons = Particle.findall(lambda p: p.charge == 0 and p.has_bottom and p.mass > 5.2 * GeV and p.mass < 5.3 * GeV)
for p in neutral_beauty_hadrons:
    print(f"Found neutral beauty hadron: {p.name} (mass={p.mass / GeV:.3f} GeV)")

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