[ noun ] the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet <noun.communication>
Tau \Tau\ (tou), n. [Gr. tay^.] The nineteenth letter ([Tau], [tau]) of the Greek alphabet, equivalent to English t. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Tau \Tau\, n. [Gr. tay^ the letter [tau] (English {T}).] (Zo["o]l.) The common American toadfish; -- so called from a marking resembling the Greek letter tau ([tau]).
{Tau cross}. See Illust. 6, of {Cross}.
The quarks seem to come in three families or generations: one forms protons and neutrons and is associated with electrons; another family, not found in nature, seems to be associated with the muon particle; and a third associated with the tau particle.
Particles in the third family _ first discovered in the mid-1970s _ are the bottom quark, the yet-undetected top quark, the tau lepton and the tau neutrino.
Particles in the third family _ first discovered in the mid-1970s _ are the bottom quark, the yet-undetected top quark, the tau lepton and the tau neutrino.