Quark Generation: Are Most Quarks in the Universe in Their Least Massive Form?

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter DaveBF
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Business Form
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the generation of quarks in the universe, specifically whether most quarks exist in their least massive form. Participants explore the implications of quark decay and the stability of different quark generations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the relevance of the average time until decay for quarks and protons, suggesting that decay times may influence the understanding of quark generations.
  • Another participant speculates that eventually, everything in the universe might decay into the smallest possible form, seeking clarification on whether this aligns with the original question.
  • A later reply references nucleosynthesis as a potential source of information related to the topic.
  • One participant concludes that most quarks are in their least massive generation and that these are the most common in nature, noting that while higher mass quarks can be created in high-energy collisions, they decay quickly back into lower mass particles.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the implications of quark decay and the stability of quark generations. There is no clear consensus on the broader implications of these points.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about decay times and the conditions under which quarks exist are not fully explored, leaving room for further discussion on the topic.

DaveBF
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
formed? I assume this has a very simple answer, I just can't seem to figure it out.
 
Physics news on Phys.org


Don't you think the average time until decay is relevant? How long does it take a quark to decay? How long does it take a proton to decay?
 


So eventually everything in the universe will have decayed into the smallest possible form, assuming the universe is still around by then?
Or am I totally missing your point?
 


Ah, I seem to have found the answer to my poorly worded question.
Most of the quarks in the universe are already in their least massive generation, and these are the ones that occur most often in nature.
So I suppose the answer to my question is yes, all of the quarks are in their smallest form, and that's the way they remain, save some rare high energy collisions creating more massive quarks, which decay quickly back into a lower massed particle.
 

Similar threads

Graduate How can quarks exist if they are confined?
  • · Replies 65 ·
3
Replies
65
Views
10K
Undergrad What would a hypothetical quark-quark collision yield?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
Graduate Quarkonium: General Information
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
Undergrad Why didn't the Big Bang form a Black Hole?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
4K
Graduate Explicit form of annihilation and creation operators for Dirac field
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
Undergrad Strange quarks, Strange stars and Strangelets?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
Undergrad Proton decay at the end of the Universe
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
3K
High School How Does Entropy Relate to the Arrow of Time in the Early Universe?
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
4K
Graduate Did Electrons Form Before Quarks? Chronology of Universe's Reheating Phase
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
Graduate Forming Strange Quarks in Strange Stars
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K