Nucleon Constituents: Virtual Quark Types

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In summary: With experiments - you can actually hit protons with particles and see what happens.You can tell what was there already as compared to what happens when protons collide with something.With simulations - you cannot "see" this directly in detectors, you can just compare (statistical) experimental results with the simulated results. With experiments - you can actually hit protons with particles and see what happens.
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mathman
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I understand that nucleons (protons and neutrons) consist of 3 valence quarks and a sea of other stuff, virtual quark-antiquark pairs and gluons. Question: are the virtual quarks only up and down or may there be heavier quarks?
 
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  • #2
mathman said:
I understand that nucleons (protons and neutrons) consist of 3 valence quarks and a sea of other stuff, virtual quark-antiquark pairs and gluons. Question: are the virtual quarks only up and down or may there be heavier quarks?

All flavors contribute because of [itex]g\leftrightarrow q\bar{q}[/itex] processes. A quick search didn't turn up any sort of canonical reference, but http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/29441 explains some experimental measurements related to the strange component of the proton.
 
  • #3
http://pdg.web.cern.ch/pdg/2011/reviews/rpp2011-rev-structure-functions.pdf [Broken] has (predicted) parton distribution functions on page 12. Heavier quarks are suppressed, but they are present.
 
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  • #4
fzero said:
All flavors contribute because of [itex]g\leftrightarrow q\bar{q}[/itex] processes. A quick search didn't turn up any sort of canonical reference, but http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/29441 explains some experimental measurements related to the strange component of the proton.

I would guess that it is possible that the other heavier quarks may be present, but the experiments might be difficult. Maybe LHC might find something?
 
  • #5
Naturally if you hit a proton hard enough, heavy quarks will be produced. I thought your question was, is there a significant percentage of heavy quarks already in the proton. And to answer this, as described in the ref, you want to do low energy experiments with high accuracy.
 
  • #6
Bill_K said:
Naturally if you hit a proton hard enough, heavy quarks will be produced. I thought your question was, is there a significant percentage of heavy quarks already in the proton. And to answer this, as described in the ref, you want to do low energy experiments with high accuracy.
My confusion is how do you tell what was there already as compared to what happens when protons collide with something.
 
  • #7
With simulations - you cannot "see" this directly in detectors, you can just compare (statistical) experimental results with the simulated results.
 

1. What are nucleon constituents?

Nucleon constituents are the particles that make up nucleons, which are the building blocks of atomic nuclei. They are primarily made up of quarks and gluons.

2. What are virtual quarks?

Virtual quarks are particles that are not observed directly, but are theorized to exist based on mathematical models. They play a role in the strong nuclear force that binds nucleons together.

3. How many types of virtual quarks are there?

There are six types of virtual quarks, known as flavors, including up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom. Each flavor has an associated anti-particle.

4. How do virtual quarks differ from real quarks?

Virtual quarks differ from real quarks in that they are not directly observable, and can only be described through mathematical models. Additionally, virtual quarks have a very short lifespan and do not exist as isolated particles.

5. What is the significance of virtual quarks in understanding the structure of matter?

Virtual quarks play a crucial role in our understanding of the strong nuclear force and the structure of matter at the subatomic level. They help explain how nucleons are held together and provide insights into the fundamental building blocks of the universe.

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