Proton Collisions Hint that Gluons, Not Quarks, Carry Baryon Number

Proton collisions hint that gluons, not quarks, carry baryon number

A proton looks so simple, made of three quarks held together by gluons. However, this appearance could be a deception.  New measurements suggest that one of its most fundamental properties may not belong to those three quarks at all.  The measurements came from the STAR (Solenoidal Tracker) detector at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the same facility that recently completed its final collisions after 25 …

Evidence uncovered by physicists on how protons communicate their identity

Physicists have long been puzzled by the question of how protons carry their baryon number, a quantum property that distinguishes them as matter rather than antimatter. A recent study by researchers from the STAR Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider suggests that the baryon number is not only carried by the proton’s three quarks, [...] The post Evidence uncovered by physicists on how protons communicate their identity appeared fi…