heavy, negatively charged subatomic particle
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A tau is a heavy, negatively charged subatomic particle that exists for only a tiny fraction of a second before decaying into other particles. Scientists study taus because they help us understand the fundamental structure of matter and test our theories about how the universe works at the smallest scales.
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The tau (τ), also called the tau lepton, tau particle or tauon, is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with negative electric charge and a spin of 1/2. Like the electron, the muon, and the three neutrinos, the tau is a lepton, and like all elementary particles with half-integer spin, the tau has a corresponding antiparticle of opposite charge but equal mass and spin. In the tau's case, this is the "antitau" (also called the positive tau). Tau particles are denoted by the symbol τ and the antitaus by τ.
Tau leptons have a lifetime of 2.9×10 s and a mass of 1776.9 MeV/c (compared to 105.66 MeV/c for muons and 0.511 MeV/c for electrons). Because their interactions are very similar to those of the electron, a tau can be thought of as a much heavier version of the electron. Due to their greater mass, tau particles do not emit as much bremsstrahlung (braking radiation) as electrons; consequently they are potentially much more highly penetrating than electrons.