Do have leptons 0 color charge or none?

  • Thread starter Thread starter minio
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Charge Color
Click For Summary
Leptons do not possess color charge, meaning they cannot interact through the strong force like quarks and gluons. The discussion differentiates between "having zero color charge" and "having no color charge property," suggesting they are conceptually similar. It is noted that leptons cannot influence color exchange in particles that do have color charge. The strong interaction's symmetry group is SU(3), which does not allow for color-neutral gluons to couple with leptons. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the distinct roles of leptons and quarks in particle interactions.
minio
Messages
53
Reaction score
0
Sorry for the stupid question, but I am just curious. I found that leptons do not have color charge, so they cannot interact like quarks and gluons, but does that mean that thay do not posses such property or is it safe to assume that their colour charge is 0?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
They do not posses this property which means that their color charge is 0.

Would do you think is the difference between "having zero color charge" and "having no (such property as) color charge"?
 
What's the difference? It's like asking whether I don't have any money or whether the amount of money I have is zero. It's the same thing.
 
Well I would just expect that if they have 0 charge they still could mess up with color exchange of particles possesing charge (eg. emitting green+antigreen gluon).
 
minio said:
Well I would just expect that if they have 0 charge they still could mess up with color exchange of particles possesing charge (eg. emitting green+antigreen gluon).

Electron interactions never involve the strong force.
 
There is no green+antigreen i.e. colorless gluon b/c the symmetry group of the strong interaction is SU(3), not U(3); if it would be U(3) = U(1)*SU(3) then there would be a color-neutral U(1) gluon which mediating a long-range force, just like the photon. But even then this gluon would not couple to a color-less particle (again like the photon which does not couple to uncharged particles like the neutrino)
 
Before to answer generalities, please look for the article "lepton number as the fourth colour" by Pati and friends.
 
tom.stoer said:
There is no green+antigreen i.e. colorless gluon
I meant pair of gluons one with color and one with anticolor charge.
 
Two gluons can indeed form a color-neutral pair, but this pair does not couple to a quark - only the indivudial gluons
 

Similar threads

Graduate Why do the proton and electron have equal and opposite electric charge?
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
4K
Undergrad Understanding Weak Isospin in SU(2) Gauge Theory
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
4K
Undergrad Imagining a Higgsless Universe
  • · Replies 35 ·
2
Replies
35
Views
9K
Undergrad What happens to the non-interacting part of protons in LHC collisions?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
Undergrad What would a hypothetical quark-quark collision yield?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
Do Leptons and Quarks Interact Electromagnetically?
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
Undergrad Color charge is not scalar -- do their components have dimensions?
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
1K
High School Electroweak spontaneous symmetry breaking
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
3K
Graduate Kerma from neutron irradiation
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
768
High School Can a hypothetical atom be made out of positrons and electrons ?
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K