How Does the LHC Influence Our Understanding of Subquarks and Preons?

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In summary, the conversation centers around the existence and viability of subquarks, also known as preons, and their role in understanding strong force confinement. The interlocutors discuss the use of the LHC to constrain the parameter space of subquarks and the challenges of detecting and understanding these particles. They also reference the mass paradox of preon models and the proposed solution of a large binding force between preons. They question whether this is a similar issue to other fine-tuning problems in physics and wonder about the existence of similar cancellations in other particles and properties.
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Azurite
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May I know how much LHC has constraint the parameter space of the subquarks (generally known as preons)?

What models are still viable (I'm focusing on the subquarks and not other particles like electrons as made of smaller components)?

I hope ohwilleke can share some insight as he is the lead author of preons in the Wikipedia. And others knowledable about subquarks side of preons.

I'm studying strong force confinement and I wonder if the quarks are sufficient or we really need subquarks to make it work. What is your opinion?
 
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Azurite said:
May I know how much LHC has constraint the parameter space of the subquarks (generally known as preons)?

What models are still viable (I'm focusing on the subquarks and not other particles like electrons as made of smaller components)?

I hope ohwilleke can share some insight as he is the lead author of preons in the Wikipedia. And others knowledable about subquarks side of preons.

I'm studying strong force confinement and I wonder if the quarks are sufficient or we really need subquarks to make it work. What is your opinion?

Here are two specific questions to narrow them down:

1. The quark discovery used small electron probe in the SLAC accelerator.. this required because you needed smaller probe or bullet to reveal the scattering centers.. see

https://www.learner.org/courses/physics/unit/text.html?unit=1&secNum=5
"By the early 1970s, detailed analyses of the distribution of the scattered electrons measured in the giant magnetic spectrometers in End Station A revealed three scattering centers within the nucleon—the first experimental evidence that quarks were in fact real. Physicists Jerome Friedman, Henry Kendall, and Richard Taylor received the Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1990."

The LHC collides hadrons so how can it have the resolution to see quarks in a nucleon and much less subquarks??

2. About the mass paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preon

"The mass paradox
One preon model started as an internal paper at the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) around 1994. The paper was written after an unexpected and inexplicable excess of jets with energies above 200 GeV were detected in the 1992–1993 running period. However, scattering experiments have shown that quarks and leptons are "pointlike" down to distance scales of less than 10−18 m (or 1/1000 of a proton diameter). The momentum uncertainty of a preon (of whatever mass) confined to a box of this size is about 200 GeV/c, 50,000 times larger than the rest mass of an up-quark and 400,000 times larger than the rest mass of an electron.

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle states that ΔxΔp ≥ ħ/2 and thus anything confined to a box smaller than Δx would have a momentum uncertainty proportionally greater. Thus, the preon model proposed particles smaller than the elementary particles they make up, since the momentum uncertainty Δp should be greater than the particles themselves. And so the preon model represents a mass paradox: How could quarks or electrons be made of smaller particles that would have many orders of magnitude greater mass-energies arising from their enormous momenta? This paradox is resolved by postulating a large binding force between preons cancelling their mass-energies.[citation needed]"

Is this like a fine tuning thing like the cosmological constant problem or the higgs hierarchy problem or the fine tuning more manageable and possible? What other existing particles have this cancellation analogy in other properties or aspects of the parameter space?
 

1. What are preons and subquarks?

Preons and subquarks are hypothetical particles that are thought to be the building blocks of quarks, which are the fundamental particles that make up protons and neutrons. They are proposed to be even smaller than quarks and would help explain the complexities of the Standard Model of particle physics.

2. How are preons and subquarks different from quarks?

Preons and subquarks are proposed to be smaller and more fundamental than quarks. They are also thought to have different properties and interactions with other particles. However, their existence has not yet been confirmed and is still a topic of research and debate.

3. What evidence is there for the existence of preons and subquarks?

Currently, there is no direct evidence for the existence of preons and subquarks. However, some theories, such as string theory, suggest their existence as a way to explain the fundamental particles of the Standard Model. Scientists are also studying high-energy collisions in particle accelerators to try and detect these particles.

4. How would the discovery of preons and subquarks impact our understanding of the universe?

If preons and subquarks are confirmed to exist, it would greatly impact our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of the universe. It could also help bridge the gaps and inconsistencies in the Standard Model and potentially lead to new discoveries and technologies.

5. Are there any practical applications for preons and subquarks?

As of now, there are no practical applications for preons and subquarks since their existence has not been confirmed. However, if they are discovered, they could potentially have implications in fields such as particle physics and cosmology, and could also lead to new technologies in the future.

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