Positive baryon numbers (A>0) and positive lepton numbers (L>0) characterize matter particles while negative baryon numbers and negative lepton numbers characterize antimatter particles. Matter particles and antimatter particles belong to two distinct classes of particles. Matter neutral particles are particles characterized by both zero baryon number and zero lepton number. This third class of particles includes mesons formed by a quark and an antiquark pair (a pair of matter particle and antimatter particle) and bosons which are messengers of known interactions (photons for electromagnetism, W and Z bosons for the weak interaction, gluons for the strong interaction). The antiparticle of a matter particle belongs to the class of antimatter particles, the antiparticle of an antimatter particle belongs to the class of matter particles. The antiparticle of a matter neutral particle belongs to the same class of matter neutral particles. A truly neutral particle is a particle identical with its antiparticle; it belongs necessarily to the class of matter neutral particles. All known interactions of the Standard Model conserve baryon number and lepton number; matter cannot be created or destroyed via a reaction governed by these interactions. Conservation of baryon and lepton number parallels conservation of atoms in chemistry; the number of atoms of a particular species in the reactants must equal the number of those atoms in the products. These laws of conservation valid for interaction involving matter particles are indeed valid for any particles (matter particles characterized by positive numbers, antimatter particles characterized by negative numbers, and matter neutral particles characterized by zero). Interactions within the framework of the Standard Model which conserve both matter and charge at the microscopic level cannot explain the observed asymmetry of our Universe. The strong interaction was introduced to explain the stability of nuclei: there must exist a powerful force to compensate the electromagnetic force which tends to cause protons to fly apart. The weak interaction with laws of conservation different from electromagnetism and the strong interaction was postulated to explain beta decay. Our observed material and neutral universe would signify the existence of another interaction that did conserve charge but did not conserve matter.
Baryon Number and Lepton Number Conservation Laws