Why Mesons Can't Be Made of 2 Quarks Alone

In summary, a meson must have a quark-antiquark pair in order to be color neutral. Other combinations, such as an up-down quark pair, would not result in a color neutral hadron. The possibility of a "crippled" meson or other exotic hadrons has not been observed, but is still being researched.
  • #1
Achim
2
0
As far as I know a Baryon is made of three Quarks (eg uud, udd etc) and a Meson of two Quarks, a Quark/Antiquark pair. As I am not a student / scholar in Physics but very deeply interested in this field, I couldn't find any explanation, why a Meson is omly made up by a Quark/Antiquark pair. What hinders a Meson to be made of, let's say an up-down Quark pair? Pauli only forbids constructions like up-up or down-down as both involved Quarks cannot be differed in this. So, can anyone please help my fault in thinking and grant me a hint, on why two Quarks cannot form a Meson WITHOUT an Anti-Quark / third Quark?
Add-on question: if such ud-Quark is not possible, would such construction MAYBE possible in a process when glasma becomes Quark-Gluon-Plasma?
This is not a question for a scientific work, neither homework etc. this is just a question to ease my always chatting mind at night as I am very sich, struck with central apnea sleeping disorder and hence my mind ventures into all sorts of science to keep my spirit going. I apologise for any error I made in constructing my question. Thank you.
 
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  • #3
Drakkith said:
I think hadrons (baryons and mesons) are required to be color neutral, something which can only happen if you have 3 quarks or a quark-antiquark pair.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/forces/color.html
Thank you, I understand the status-quo. My question's intention is different, I am after "is a crippled meson possible or not" plus "if it is possible, what condition could produce it". That why I mentioned the glasma -> quark-gluon-plasma transition.

Thoughts?
 
  • #4
Achim said:
, I am after "is a crippled meson possible or not"

And the answer is "no", for the reasons explained above.
 
  • #5
Drakkith said:
I think hadrons (baryons and mesons) are required to be color neutral, something which can only happen if you have 3 quarks or a quark-antiquark pair.
Or with 4 quarks and one antiquark ("pentaquark"), with two quarks or two antiquarks ("tetraquark"), with no valence quarks at all ("glueball") or with even more exotic combinations, but those things have not been observed yet (at least not conclusively).
Achim said:
I am after "is a crippled meson possible or not"
No.
 

1. How can mesons be made of quarks if they are composed of two quarks?

Mesons are not made of two individual quarks, but rather they are bound states of a quark and an antiquark. This means that the quark and antiquark are held together by the strong nuclear force, similar to how protons and neutrons are bound together in an atomic nucleus.

2. Why can't two quarks form a meson on their own?

The strong nuclear force is what holds quarks together, but it has a very short range. This means that at a certain distance, the force becomes too weak to hold the quarks together and they break apart. Since mesons require the strong force to be bound, two quarks alone cannot form a stable meson.

3. Are there any mesons that are made of two quarks?

Yes, there are certain mesons known as "tetraquarks" that are believed to be made of two quarks and two antiquarks. However, these are still theoretical and have not been confirmed by experiments.

4. How do scientists know that mesons are made of a quark and an antiquark?

Scientists have observed the decay of mesons and have found that they always produce a quark and an antiquark, providing evidence for their composition. Additionally, the mathematical theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) also supports the idea that mesons are bound states of quarks and antiquarks.

5. Can mesons ever be made of more than two quarks?

According to the theories of QCD, it is possible for mesons to be made of more than two quarks. However, these types of mesons are even more unstable and have not been observed in experiments. Theoretically, they could exist in extreme conditions such as in the core of a neutron star.

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