The discussion revolves around the concept of charge quantization, specifically questioning why quarks possess fractional charges (e.g., ##\frac{1}{3}e##) rather than redefining the elementary charge "e" to accommodate this. Participants explore the implications of charge definitions and the historical context of the discovery of charge.
Participants express differing views on the necessity and implications of redefining the elementary charge "e". There is no consensus on whether redefining "e" would have been a better approach.
Participants acknowledge the historical context of the definition of "e" and its implications for modern particle physics, but the discussion does not resolve the underlying questions about charge quantization.
phinds said:"e" was defined long before quarks were dreamed of.
Dale said:It is still discrete. It comes only in integer multiples of 1/3 e
Dale said:As @phinds said, when e was discovered quarks were unknown. Redefining it later would have been inconvenient.