Quark Physics: Nucleon Structure Explained

[Helios]

Quark physics is completely out of my depths but I was wondering if, in a nucleon, they assume certain orbitals like s,p,d,f, ... Does one quark tend toward the center? Is there a valence quark? Do any symmetries form?

 

[Meir Achuz]

It is a three body problem with no one central quark and no one valence quark. Three body coordinates must be used. The ground state has zero orbital angular momentum, which is denoted as an S state, but the language of atomic physics is not really relevant.