Particle Data Group

PDG Identifiers


PDG Identifiers are references to items of PDG data such as particles, particle properties, decay modes and review articles.

Once defined, a PDG Identifier is guaranteed to not change and can thus be used in other systems as a permanent reference to PDG data. Note that although the meaning of a given PDG Identifier will not change, there is no guarantee that the corresponding data will be included into future editions of the Review of Particle Physics.

Each PDG Identifier consists of a single string without embedded spaces. PDG Identifiers are not case-sensitive. More details on PDG Identifiers can be found in this proposal.

Future versions of pdgLive will directly support PDG Identifiers both for viewing and for downloading the data associated with a given PDG Identifier.

PDG Identifiers for the 2012 edition of the Review of Particle Physics:

The lists of PDG Identifiers and references above will be updated for each published edition of the Review of Particle Physics, including odd-year partial updates. Additional updates may occur in order to account for errata in the Review of Particle Physics, or to correct mistakes.

The latest version of the above lists can be access through the following links: