yoctosecond

unitStandard termUnits

An SI unit of time equal to one septillionth of a second.

One septillionth of a second (10^-24 s). It is the timescale of the shortest known subatomic events, such as the lifespan of top quarks and W or Z bosons. It is used exclusively in high-energy particle physics.

Heard on the job

The particle decays in roughly three yoctoseconds, leaving only a trace in the collider data.