Is there an experiment that shows strong force grows with distance?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around whether there is an experiment that demonstrates the strong force increases with distance, particularly in the context of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Participants explore various aspects of the strong force, including its implications in high-energy physics and the nature of experimental evidence supporting different interpretations.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that trillions of observed collisions at colliders support the idea that the strong force either grows or remains constant with distance.
  • Others question the specific nature of the strong force being discussed, suggesting there may be multiple interpretations, such as the residual strong force and the color force.
  • A participant mentions that the "running coupling" of QCD can be measured and aligns with theoretical predictions, referencing a detailed article for further information.
  • Concerns are raised about the nature of the original poster's project, with some participants suggesting it may resemble homework, while others emphasize the importance of focusing on established theories rather than personal theories.
  • One participant explains that QCD predicts that the strong force does not decrease in strength with distance, citing that particles decay into jets as evidence of this behavior.
  • There is a discussion about the relevance of the original poster's background and the ultimate goal of their inquiry, with some participants expressing a desire to understand their knowledge level to provide better assistance.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of the strong force and the interpretation of experimental evidence. There is no consensus on a single interpretation or conclusion regarding the behavior of the strong force with distance.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight the complexity of isolating components of QCD and the theoretical framework surrounding it, noting that the existence of certain concepts may not be as important as their utility in making accurate predictions.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those studying high-energy physics, particularly in understanding the nuances of the strong force and its implications in experimental contexts.

Cody Livengood
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TL;DR
Is there an experiment that shows strong force grows with distance?
Is there an experiment that shows strong force grows with distance?
 
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You posted this in classical physics. What strong force do you mean?
 
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Vanadium 50 said:
You posted this in classical physics.
I have moved it to HEP
 
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Cody Livengood said:
Is there an experiment that shows strong force grows with distance?
Yes, there have been trillions of observed collisions at various colliders around the world over the past 70 years or so that support the idea that the strong force either grows or remains constant with distance.

Trillions. This isn't hyperbole or exaggeration.
 
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Vanadium 50 said:
You posted this in classical physics. What strong force do you mean?
Is there more than one? What are my options?
 
Drakkith said:
Yes, there have been trillions of observed collisions at various colliders around the world over the past 70 years or so that support the idea that the strong force either grows or remains constant with distance.

Trillions. This isn't hyperbole or exaggeration.
Well, QCD is only about 50 years old ;-)). It's of course right, that it is very well established nowadays by all experiments ever made.
 
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Cody Livengood said:
Is there more than one? What are my options?
There is the residual strong force. This is the strong force that holds a nucleus together. There is also the strong interaction or color force. This is the strong force that holds a quark together. From context I think that you mean the second one.
 
  • #10
Cody Livengood said:
That's a lot of text to read. Help me out. What experiment showed this and how did it show it?
Is this also for your school project? Seems to me you want others to do the work for you
 
  • #11
Drakkith said:
Yes, there have been trillions of observed collisions at various colliders around the world over the past 70 years or so that support the idea that the strong force either grows or remains constant with distance.

Trillions. This isn't hyperbole or exaggeration.
How do those observations show that? What physical action did particles make in the experiment to demonstrate this?
 
  • #12
That's precisely told in this article from "Review of Particle Physics". That's why I posted this link. It's the most convenient way to find the state-of-the-art experimental (as well as theoretical results) in HEP physics. On top it's even totally for free. You can even order hard copies of the review as well as the very handy particle-data booklet.
 
  • #13
malawi_glenn said:
Is this also for your school project? Seems to me you want others to do the work for you
Well, the Particle Data Group already has done this work for you!
 
  • #14
vanhees71 said:
Well, the Particle Data Group already has done this work for you!
PDG is cheat mode!
 
  • #15
malawi_glenn said:
Is this also for your school project? Seems to me you want others to do the work for you
It's not for school. It's a personal project. I just need a few more questions answered and I should be done with it. And if you're already familiar with what the text says, it's quicker to just ask you to sum it up than to spend the next hour reading something that may or may not actually include the answer I'm looking for.
 
  • #16
Cody Livengood said:
It's not for school. It's a personal project. I just need a few more questions answered and I should be done with it. And if you're already familiar with what the text says, it's quicker to just ask you to sum it up than to spend the next hour reading something that may or may not actually include the answer I'm looking for.
In the other thread you said you are not doing this for fun?
 
  • #17
vanhees71 said:
Well, QCD is only about 50 years old ;-)). It's of course right, that it is very well established nowadays by all experiments ever made.
Eh, I estimated.

Cody Livengood said:
How do those observations show that? What physical action did particles make in the experiment to demonstrate this?
They decayed into jets of particles exactly as predicted by the theory (Quantum Chromodynamics) that says that the strong force doesn't decrease in strength with distance.

If the strong force DID drop off with distance then all sorts of things would be different from what we observe.
 
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  • #18
It doesn't really matter why they are doing this project. This is not a homework-like question so it is on-topic. At the same time, if you want to answer with a solid reference then that is fine.
 
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  • #19
Dale said:
It doesn't really matter why they are doing this project. This is not a homework-like question so it is on-topic. At the same time, if you want to answer with a solid reference then that is fine.
It would be helpful to know what the OPs own knowledge is and what the ultimate goal is in order to help as best as possible.
 
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  • #20
malawi_glenn said:
In the other thread you said you are not doing this for fun?
Yes, my personal project isn't being done for fun. I've been working at it for over seven years now. I'm doing it to change what the scientific community believes, not for no reason.
 
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  • #21
malawi_glenn said:
It would be helpful to know what the OPs own knowledge is and what the ultimate goal is in order to help as best as possible.
Agreed, their background level would be useful, but we don't need to pry into their project.
 
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  • #22
Cody Livengood said:
Yes, my personal project isn't being done for fun. I've been working at it for over seven years now. I'm doing it to change what the scientific community believes, not for no reason.
So it is work on a personal theory?
 
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  • #23
Cody Livengood said:
Yes, my personal project isn't being done for fun. I've been working at it for over seven years now. I'm doing it to change what the scientific community believes, not for no reason.
Good luck with that. We can help with what the scientific community believes and why, but we cannot discuss unpublished personal theories here. So stick with questions about standard theories and avoid pushing your own theories. Most of us have already inferred that this is exactly what you are doing, hence the general tone of the responses.
 
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  • #24
Cody Livengood said:
It's not for school. It's a personal project. I just need a few more questions answered and I should be done with it. And if you're already familiar with what the text says, it's quicker to just ask you to sum it up than to spend the next hour reading something that may or may not actually include the answer I'm looking for.
The strong force (QCD) is something of a package, IMO. You have a theoretical infrastructure of quarks, gluons, colour charge, isospin and rules for the way these interoperate and out comes a theory that predicts what will happen in various high-energy experiments. It's difficult or impossible to isolate these components (e.g. a quark) and indeed some of the rules prevent isolation (e.g. colour confinement).

All you can do, really, is test the theoretical package. QCD produces accurate predictions. In a way that's all you can say.

Moreover, I don't think the concept of existence is really very important in physics. All that matters is that something is a useful concept. One example is the classical electromagnetic field. It doesn't matter whether you say it really exists or not. All that matters is that it is a useful concept that is part of the model for classical electromagnetism and that theory works in its domain of applicability.
 
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  • #25
Cody Livengood said:
My reason for asking the question is irrelevant to the question itself. But if you must know what my knowledge level is, I'm one class away from being halfway done with my physics degree and I work for Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division.
You aren't by chance an author, are you?
 
  • #26
Dale said:
Agreed, their background level would be useful, but we don't need to pry into their project.
Its up to them if they want to reply. I just think its good to know what they are going to do with that knowledge. It is for sci fi novel, is it for a lego diorama, or just out of sheer interest
 
  • #27
Drakkith said:
You aren't by chance an author, are you?
Yes. A quick Googling of my name and you could find that out.
 
  • #28
Cody Livengood said:
Yes. A quick Googling of my name and you could find that out.
That's exactly what I did, but I figured I'd ask in case it was merely a coincidence that you have the same name as the author of a book that claims that they have a theory of everything that makes more sense than much of science.
 
  • #29
I am by FAR not the expert on this topic, but assuming that you are talking about the color force, the one responsible for holding protons and neutrons together, the main experimental observation that leads us to believe that the color force grows with distance is the absence of free quarks.

Btw, given your background, the reference posted should be something that you can read and understand.
 
  • #30
Drakkith said:
That's exactly what I did, but I figured I'd ask in case it was merely a coincidence that you have the same name as the author of a book that claims that they have a theory of everything that makes more sense than much of science.
It's not a coincidence, but I don't think we can really discuss my theory here.
 
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