Here is the modern 'periodic table' that decomposes everything in the universe into 17 fundamental particles. The quantum field theory that explains how they interact under the three forces of electromagnetism, weak and strong, is known as the Standard Model. Most research is concentrated on examining this theory with ever greater precision, finding new phenomenology, and searching for a deeper understanding, either in terms of new more fundamental particles or new hidden forces.

Everyday matter consists of objects in the first column and their interactions use the bosons in the fourth column. Thus protons and neutrons consist of up and down quarks held together by gluons, nucleii consist of protons and neutrons also bound by gluons, while atoms and molecules consist of electrons and nucleii interacting using photons. Neutrinos are produced through interactions of the W boson when a neutron turns into a proton.

To study this precisely and to observe the heavier particles we use Einstein's trick of turning energy into matter. Accelerating protons to near light-speed and smashing them together can allow the energy to condense into heavier quarks and leptons and produce Z or H bosons. This technique enabled the Higgs boson to be discovered at CERN in 2012, a strong validation of the Standard Mode, for which the Nobel prize was awarded.