According to our current understanding in physics, matter is ultimately made up of elementary particles. These particles are the building blocks of the universe and cannot be broken down into smaller components.
The Standard Model of particle physics describes the elementary particles and their interactions. It identifies two main types of elementary particles: fermions and bosons.
Fermions are the fundamental building blocks of matter. They include quarks and leptons. Quarks are the elementary particles that combine to form protons and neutrons, which are the building blocks of atomic nuclei. Leptons include particles such as electrons and neutrinos.
Bosons, on the other hand, are particles that mediate fundamental forces between matter particles. The most familiar boson is the photon, which is responsible for the electromagnetic force. Other bosons include the W and Z bosons, which mediate the weak nuclear force, and the gluons, which mediate the strong nuclear force.
These elementary particles are believed to be point-like and have no substructure, meaning they are not composed of anything smaller. They possess various properties such as mass, charge, and spin, which determine their behavior and interactions.
It's important to note that the nature of matter and its fundamental constituents is an active area of research in physics, and our understanding may evolve with future discoveries and advancements in scientific knowledge.